Portland (Oregon)

Portland has Breweries and Happy Hours like Seattle has coffee shops. Every corner on just about every street and often in the middle of the block. I also saw coffee places. For that matter, I really didn’t see more than one or two of your ordinary cafe. The pubs open at 1100 and serve lunch, pub food most like with a side of lineage for everything that is put on your plate. I am more than appreciative of farm to table but really do not need to know the name of the cow that produced the milk that became the cheese that graced my sandwich. For that matter – since I don’t believe in naming my food anyway – I really don’t need to know the name of the creature who died to provide that steak for the next table’s occupants.

It is also home to a lovely long River Walk, a lot of joggers and bicyclists and a significant cadre of homeless living along that same river under a couple of bridges or hanging in more than the occasional bridge. It gets cool, rains a lot but doesn’t often freeze or snow. The social support seems to be good, the VA by reputation isn’t and the city is really, really white. For that matter – so is Oregon.  The editor of the Wiki article on Portland does a good job of describing the whiteness of Portland – it has much more diversity in its gender/gender choice mix than it does in racial balance. The rest I will leave up to you to read as you so choose.

George went on a wine tour and frolic out to the Willamette Valley – I hiked around the city instead. There were interesting buildings, there is Powell’s Books, and there is Pearl Fiber Arts where I had a lovely time fondling yarn, picking out handmade porcelain buttons and chatting with both the owner and a local dyer who was setting up a special box store for the weekend. Needless to say, I broke down and bought a bit of gradient dyed yarn to go along with the above mentioned buttons.

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About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!
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