Hey Brownwood. I’ve been out-of-pocket for a few weeks, but I’m glad to be back in the saddle (to mix metaphors.)

It was nice to sit outside on Tuesday morning and watch all the rain come down. Lake Brownwood is over the spillway for the first time in many years, and that’s a great joy to many people.

I was in Portland for the first part of September at the Portland, Oregon Writer’s Retreat, and while I was gone – you, here, enjoyed nice cool weather. Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest, I had a day of 102 degrees! But I enjoyed myself up there. The retreat was fantastic, and a much-needed respite to focus my mind on writing again.

I’m going to talk a little about my time in Portland, but stick with me, it’ll be leading somewhere… something about walkable community and the value of such things.

Let’s leave politics out of this for now, and see what we can see.

It has been challenging for me (as a writer, of all things!) to gather my thoughts and reactions to my time in Portland. Let me start by saying that the value of my time spent at the retreat is incalculable. As writers, we know that much of what we do is private and personal. Writing, they say, is a lonely and solitary pursuit, but we also recognize that the conditions and context of our writing experience can make or break any project. I have written all over the world. From a private cabin in the woods on a hidden lake outside Toccoa Falls, Georgia, to a metal, spider-ridden guest house in the far south wilds of Western Australia; from a jungle cabin in Central America to a historic home on Bourbon Street in New Orleans; I’ve written everywhere, man.

I have to say that my stay in Portland at the Writer’s Retreat was one of the most valuable and amazing times I’ve ever had as an author.

Let me explain: The location is a recently renovated historic home in a cool, upscale neighborhood perched over the eastern bank of the Willamette River. Only fifteen minutes from downtown Portland, the main house that hosts the retreat was built in 1912 by a famous Portland architect, and that history informs every eyeful as you walk the grounds. The expansive home sits on a beautiful estate that backs up to some beautiful woods leading down to the river.

Clean air, copious wildlife, walking trails, and a gorgeous view are available to the writer, and these things are the subjective gems that add to the writer’s overall environment. The main house is chock-full of artwork that stokes the imagination and vivifies the writing unction. Personally, throughout my time at the retreat, I could choose to write in a small private study, or any number of other little nooks and crannies in the home or on the property. The estate has several seating areas, a sunroom, outdoor seating areas, beautiful gardens, and walking trails. And only a short stroll away is a wonderful neighborhood commercial area with pubs, sidewalk cafes, open-air markets, food truck areas, coffee shops, bookstores, and other cool shops.

And that’s really the point. I didn’t really need access to an automobile. Everything was right there, and all of it was good.

The food – those meals provided at the estate and prepared by the private chef, and also those meals taken in the nearby restaurants – was all fantastic.

I often rise to write at odd hours – sometimes at 1 a.m., and I could roll open the windows and catch a cool breeze coming off the river and the perfect still of the night helped me to think and plan. Later in the morning, perhaps after a much-needed nap, I would walk down to the neighborhood sidewalk café, or a coffee shop, and gather my thoughts and perhaps solidify the next scene I was going to write. I was able to spend comfortable hours in conversation with other writers – now become friends – and in the evenings there were great conversations, maybe a walk in the neighborhood, or perhaps an outdoor movie as the birds flew overhead and down to the river.

So, how do I bring this all home, and what does it mean to me now that I’m back in Brownwood.

I was already a great supporter of downtown revitalization, but now even more so. The value of small, family-owned businesses (rather than national corporate chains) succeeding and thriving in today’s world is exciting. Success multiplies success, and the more businesses that “make it” downtown, will increase the likelihood that new businesses will come downtown, and find success here. When I was strolling Milwaukie Street in the Selwood-Moreland neighborhood, I saw what we can become. And when I saw a huge carved wood Sasquatch in front of a shop, I thought of Micah over at Pioneer Taphouse, and what all he’s accomplished, and how he’s helped other businesses succeed downtown. As another author and I strolled and shopped in a small, local bookstore, I thought about Kim and Brent Bruton, and their Intermission Bookshop here in Brownwood. We have the good soil, and the right business climate here to create something very special.

I went to Portland to write, but I took away from it a renewed desire to see the small-town, family-owned business model that downtown revitalization enables succeed.

If I haven’t told you lately, get downtown. Shop, Eat, Play. Have fun. We’ll all benefit in the long run.

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Michael Bunker is a local columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose columns appear on Wednesdays and Sundays on the website.