one of seventeen states!

The Poetry Post

While walking Jude to school we stopped at the Poetry Post.

The WHAT? I asked.

The Poetry Post! You reach in and grab a piece of paper and then read the poem.

Doesn't everyone do this on their way to school?

Only in Portland I would say.

To find out more read this link to The Poetry Post.

Project

Gathering Materials:

Did you know that fairies live in the northwest of the United States? I didn't know this until I got here. The habitat is perfect. It is very much like Ireland where we KNOW fairies dwell. There are countless kinds of moss, lichen and fungi. Ferns grow in trees, tiny flowers peek out from behind rocks and the climate is moderate. The rain is soft, more like mist here. Never a downpour. It never gets very cold and there is certainly no hard frost like in New England. There's also a little magic in the air, everyone is talking about it. Even with the rain, people are flocking to this city. They want to be here! It is kind of obvious that there are wee folk living here. Right here in Portland.

Gus has constructed a fairy house on a shelf in Ruth's apartment. On the way home from school yesterday, he suggested we do a little dumpster diving. We got permission from Granny Ruth and we found great wood! A new project is hatched. You can see what happened. He and I built two fairy houses. Last night the fairies moved in. Their bed is made from fresh lavender that we picked along the sidewalk on the way home. Fresh lavender. I am not kidding. In February.

You can see why wee folk choose this city to live. It's perfect for them. And for humans as well.

walking home from school

Yesterday Ruth and I walked Gus home from school. Walking through a residential neighborhood of small houses, we came across this cedar tree which is well over two hundred years old. It provides a habitat for animals, insects and birds. It is surrounded by dark rich soil developed over years of decomposing needles, seeds and cones. This is a magical tree. You can feel it when you give it a hug. This is what is called in the Pacific Northwest an Old Growth tree. There are laws that protect these trees. They will never be cut down.

Imagine the whole neighborhood filled with these. Imagine no neighborhood at all just trees towering above our heads. Easy to do.

What is its circumference? Ruth, Gus and I could not reach our arms half way around it. Perhaps four adults with an arm span of six feet could really hug this tree, but just barely.

solarized

Sunday afternoon: bookmaking, grandkids, solar setting on smart phone, view out the window and seven year old photographer.

Bright ideas

To gather up our nerve to walk into the Portland Insight Meditation Society in an unfamiliar, definitely shabby part of town, we searched for a coffee place on Ruth's smart phone. This is the low rent area. Both PIMS and Space Monkey were not much to look at from the outside but full of creativity and heart on the inside.

The woman who made our lattes was dressed with flare; intentionally ripped stockings, wild hair wrapped in a loose crimson turban, short skirt and as she walked away I saw the tattoos on the back of her calves. When she slid the mugs of coffee across the counter to us I commented on the shapes she had made in the foamed milk.

"Here you go ladies, each design is a Rorschach test. I like to put my PHD in psychology to use when I can." So after sitting down on a worn couch by a large window, we peered at the shapes in the foam. Staring into our drinks, we told each other what the images evoked in the manner invented in the 1920's by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach.

From there we went to sit meditation and listen to a dharma talk about the Buddha. It was a full morning.

Mycology at a Portland farmer's market

"Oregon has evolved into a culinary hotspot, but in many ways we’re still considered hunter/gatherers.

We can see the forests for the trees here, but we can also see the Chanterelles, Porcinis, and truffles, too. All throughout Oregon, nearly all year-round, something wild is happening. From October to spring, the Oregon truffle (yes, it’s so good, they named it after us) can be found hiding around our Douglas Firs. In April, spring rains and warmer weather wake the morels. Before we know it, it’s summer, and time for salmonberries, blackberries and the elusive huckleberry. Then it’s fall, and time to start all over again."

All the rain is creating a great environment for quietly growing fungi. The farmer's market we went to yesterday offered an amazing variety. I was told that dogs are trained to sniff out truffles here. They are far superior to the pigs used by European gatherers and are easier to transport in the back seat of your car. Also, dogs don't eat them. I guess pigs have a taste for truffles.