As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

Lan Su Chinese Garden - Originally Published 2008

March 30, 2019

The gardens are modeled after one that might be found in the city of Suzhou. Aside from being Portland’s sister city, Suzhuo was the place for government officials to retire right around 1000 AD. As a result, the city amassed quite a collection of compounds built by the former imperial officials. According to the Chinese Gardens materials, they were modeled after one that might be built during the Ming Dynasty.

The really amazing thing is that while we were in here, enjoying the lush scenery, Portland continues to exist right outside. I completely forgot that I was in the epicenter of a major city.