Soggy Saturday

It's soggy, and has been for a while, and will be for a while more. Not California soggy, which seems strange to say; they have their own troubles. Here in the PNW we have the slow slog kind of soggy, weeks and months of it, seemingly endless. I might be getting used to it, or maybe just resigned. I guess it's what I signed up for when I moved.

Gratitude

I’m surrounding myself with family today, with too much delicious home cooked food, with old and new traditions. We can’t seem to gather each year without Nana Bea’s rolls, Mom’s jello mold, Karen’s challah stuffing, and this year’s new trick, Mushroom Wellington à la Alan. “Reviving family recipes honors your ancestry, but more than that, it makes manifest the inconceivable truth. This one meal is the fulfillment of infinite lifetimes.” says Karen Maezen Miller. My forebears would be proud and happy, as am I, mostly. Is there always a caveat?

Sprung

When we first arrived in Portland our son warned us that spring was actually several seasons in one - fake spring, late winter, early spring, summer, real spring, winter again, and so on.

City Girl Country Girl

Our house is perched on the outermost edge of the southwest corner of southwest Portland. That is to say, as far from the center as you can get. Having lived in too many suburban type towns all my life, I vowed to keep my activities directed into Portland itself, away from the outskirts, immersing myself … Continue reading City Girl Country Girl

Champoeg State Park

No matter where you look, no matter how urban, how run down, or how ugly, when fall is in its prime the red, orange, and yellow makes anything look 100% better. And if you are in a gorgeous state park, as I was recently, then the beauty on top of beauty is sublime. And if … Continue reading Champoeg State Park

Seasonal Straddling

Mid-September It's a bittersweet transition putting on my fleecy clothes in the mornings. There's relief in the early cool breeze coming through the windows but I already miss the summer heat. It's a greedy feeling, holding onto summer, wanting heat, enjoying the cool, wanting fall colors. The garden begins it's slow but noticeable demise, offering … Continue reading Seasonal Straddling