I like Portland weather partly because I have no choice. I repeatedly re-embrace it in a cognitively dissonant way, forcing myself to think: It's exciting! It's variety! It's opportunity! instead of: Oh this sucks!
Train Tracks to Nowhere
An old railroad is given new life, and a reminder to mix life's sweetness with the challenges.
I Am Not Jewish, I Am Jewish
It was hard to know what disaster to pay attention to yesterday. And yet we keep on with our small lives, surviving, loving, laughing, singing. I'm privileged to be able to turn away.
Finding Your Retired Place in the World
Retirement isn't about stopping living; for me it was about choosing how I wanted to live my life, and where I wanted to live it.
Taking the Gorgeous Long View
Hiking the Columbia Gorge is always a thrill, and finding a big rock to climb lets me to take the long view.
The Graveyard of the Pacific
The Columbia River spills into the Pacific in Astoria, a confluence of legendary currents, tides, waves and winds, plus frequent fog and rain. I mean, who wouldn't want to visit the place known as The Graveyard of the Pacific?
Caligonian or Orefornian?
Four years in Portland, and I'm no longer feeling quite Californian, and almost but not quite an Oregonian. I celebrated quietly and took note of how it feels now.
Island Life
Islands are wonderfully limiting. You're set apart, the surrounding water cutting you off from much of the world, leaving you access only to what's immediately available.
A Walk at Summer’s End
Looking for color in the Dog Days of summer.
A Musical Life
You'd think after 20+ years of learning to play mandolin that the voices in my head would be kinder and more tolerant...
