INTERESTING TIMES

A single engine is idling on the track less than two blocks from my window. The wisteria is blooming purple and sweet outside the window, and the grape vines are just starting to leaf. It's 62.2 degrees F and dry. I went for my standard walk wearing my long gray coat, because it somehow feels really good to sweep along in it even though I don't need the warmth. I am slow to admit that spring has sprung here, because so often I will end up chilled by a dark drizzling fog sometime when I left home without enough layers.
( braindump )

Purpose: To Be Here Now.
( notes )

It doesn't get hot here often, but when it gets hot, it gets very hot. It's supposed to top 105F today in town. Yesterday it was 102. I'm in the basement with the junk and the washer/dryer right now. Soon M will pick me up and we're headed up to a swimmin' hole on the Clackamas or Sandy. I haven't been able to study much or well with the heat....but now that I've discovered that I can hang in the basement I think I'll get more done. The east side of the house is so hot I can barely stand to touch the door. I may douse it with the hose in a few minutes. But first, I must listen to some more Goljan lectures. Boards are a week from today.

It just poured rain. The streets are full of water and petals. The kitten just walked by, meowing. I'm sitting on the floor in the nook by the window. I worked my last security shift of the quarter tonight. It was nice, just hanging out at school with nothing much going on. Good conversations. This is why I like working security. When it's your job to just sit by a door, people may come talk to you. And you have time to talk with them. It's very reaffirming. I feel fairly isolated much of the time. It's not easy to get people to have a substantive conversation about anything. There's so much militancy out there, people are so sure they are right that they don't care to entertain other points of view. They don't want to take the time to develop their own point of view. I am lucky to have intelligent, curious, openminded people in my life.
( braindump )

It has been sunny and pleasant WAY TOO MUCH. Where did the drizzle go? I'm wondering if it is about to descend. This does not seem to be the same city that I endured last winter. And I'm smiling more too.
( more, random download )

It's snowing tonight, another strange coating of white stuff in this coastal city. Tomorrow another session of school begins: 10 weeks of classes, 1 week of practical exams and papers due, another week of lecture exams. I am wound tight as a....ball of rubber bands? Not sure what is as tight as me right before one of these races begins. But begin it I must. Providing that I passed all my classes from last quarter, I am 1/3 of the way through this program, not counting board exams. I don't know yet if I passed everything. And if I didn't pass, the remediation exams are this coming Friday. Crazy way to do things. But here goes....here goes.
( I read a book today )

Monday today, and there was so much snow in Portland that businesses were closed. People have been cooped up for long enough that today they got bold, dug out their boots and winter coats, and headed out. Cabin fever makes people especially silly. Myself, I went cross country skiing with neighbor Larry. We skied over to Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and skied down to the Wilamette river. It was low and slow and quiet. Then we skied along the back trail toward Sellwood, and out onto the open grassy marsh where the birds hang out. The stream was frozen and the wind had swept the snow around, so the surface was flat and not too deep...very nice skiing. We unfortunately disturbed a group of SEVEN great blue herons that were holed up out there in the grass. When we got too close they took off as a group, six flying downstream and one flying upstream. We were sorry to disturb them, but pleased to see them.

Up on the hill we could see the crematorium. It is getting a new paint job. Somebody is painting various birds on the ugly cement building. It is pretty cool.

My computer seems to be on the fritz after I got greedy ripping music from Suzanne's CD's. It shuts down randomly and without warning. So I am cutting this post short. HOpe you are having a good winter!

Great show last night at the Aladdin, our local theater. Lucy K played first. She is a terrific singer and writes lovely songs. David Wilcox is a blast of laughter, awesomely creative guitar playing, and enlightening lyrics.

I'm in my office right now. It's a small room near the door to the apartment, adjacent to a closet which is likely to be our guest bedroom whenever we have a guest. Our new apartment really is at least twice as big as the Crow's Nest. And it is warm. It is the upstairs of a large house, with three of the four corners made into closets. The remaining corner has been made into a kitchen. This office and the main living area are wood paneled. The wood is pleasant and warm. The carpet in the living room is deep green. The bedroom is large. There is a laundry facility in the basement. And best of all, the kitchen has a gas range, and the heat is a gas stove with visible flames and stone for heat retention. There's something wonderful about FIRE in a dark and rainy city. This apartment actually gets and stays warm. That Crow's nest was entirely uninsulated. It was a very chilly place to hang out. We're still in the Brooklyn neighborhood, but we're in a warmer nest, close to the 17 line bus, and on a quieter street. There is no "mom thirty" here, when all the parents arrive to pick up or drop off their babies at the elementary school. We don't miss the desperate moms trying to park, nor the cascades of children on our sidewalk, nor the little man next door who put fish guts in his trash can. So I think the move was worth it. The expenditure is about the same, probably, overall. This rent is $100 more, but utilities and laundry are included.