Our January days are flowing calm and quiet, one into the next. A bit like the Willamette River ambles through winter landscape when there isn’t excess Oregon rainwater to manage or riverbanks to break.
I’ll take it.
This rhythm.
It’s different than travel: the go-go-go of new scenes and cities each day.
Different than work: tasks and client meetings dotted through familiar Portland and surrounds.
It’s a new sort of productive meander Continue Reading…
It’s an odd New Year’s Eve. I’d planned to post this collection of memories from our 2013 travels, but I woke up to two glitches: first, my web host’s servers were down and I couldn’t access my site, and second, the black and silver analog clock that hangs in the middle of my house was stuck all day at 6:45am.
It’s funny how time passes and how we choose to keep track.
It sounded like a romantic notion, bundling up the 2.73 month old and venturing into Oregon’s Mt. Hood National Forest to cut down a wild Christmas tree…but how did it actually go, you ask?
A December freeeeeezing snap wrapped our city in a bone-chilling cold (a dozen degrees Fahrenheit is pushing it for temperate Portland), but the skies were filled with sunshine and the Saturday roads were clear, so we borrowed a pickup, threw in a handsaw, packed a bag of dried fruit, jerky, and chocolate and a thermos of cocoa and set out as a little family of three toward the village of Zigzag, Oregon near the timberline of Mount Hood.
All we needed was a Christmas tree permit and a Christmas tree.
Seems straightforward, right? Continue Reading…
It’s refreshing to come across a little tongue in cheek travel humor. Especially when it’s from someone with wicked wit and a good heart.
You know that friend who pops up on social media with something interesting to say, posting photos that tell mini-stories and quips that make you laugh (oh, let’s be honest) chuckle out loud?
Kurt Dehut is that friend.
We met as young kids, and for a short time, our two families (five boys and a girl, each, funnily enough) actually lived on the same rural road in Oregon. Now, Kurt’s based beyond the state line in southern California (and soon moving to Tennessee!), but judging by his Facebook feed, he loves packing his bags and spending time across other borders, too.
Kurt is an advocate for orphans around the world.
“This is the album cover for a new boy band: The Mighty Orphan Power Rangers.” (Mariupol / Ukranie) -Kurt, Facebook…via Instagram…
Kurt was one of the first kids I remember meeting who had an adoption story to share: his own.
Twenty some odd years later, he still shares with his friends about his love for his adopted family. Case in point: the Mothers Day “card” he posted on Facebook this past spring. Oh my word. Continue Reading…
We’ve had our little babyOregonian for the span of time it took Jules Verne’s character Phileas Fogg to circumnavigate the world. It’s Lucie’s 80-day birthday!
Eight Week old Lucie at her first Oregon Ducks Game
We haven’t made a second trip around the globe, but we’ve now been around the block a time or two these past few months when it comes to diapers, baby baths, and try-it-and-see bedtime routines.
Speaking of, we’re not racing time for the sake of a wager, but we’ve certainly spent weeks up around the clock, desperate to get Lucie to shut her eyes and go to bed so we could have just a little time to ourselves. (Lesson learned: Sleep? Don’t bet on it.)
We’re not carrying carpet-bags or trundling along in steamer ships or railroad cars, but we’ve swapped our trusty backpacks for a classy diaper bag and we’re making our way just fine with a little baby carseat. Continue Reading…
Earlier this month, we bundled Lucie in her little beige sweatshirt and bright yellow leggings and set out for Saturday brunch with friends at Portland’s newly opened Oso Market + Bar.
After all the meals around the world, there’s still nothing like breaking bread (or splitting charcuterie plates, as it were) with people we’ve known since childhood.
“The Six of Us” are three couples who have palled around for decades (since grade school in several cases), and considering we’re only hovering at three-decade mark in median age, that’s saying a lot. Darian, Rebekah and their daughter Ashlynn were home visiting Oregon from transplant life in Nebraska, and Ryan, Sara and their daughters Genevieve and Madeleine made the hour drive up from Molalla. As part of our Portland reunion, “The Six of Us + Offspring” planned to start our day together at Oso Market + Bar, where Ryan’s brother Jason is executive chef.
Ryan, Ted, and Lucie with Oso owner Holly Johnson
“Spanish Brunch!” boasted the clever little shop sandwiched among the trendy taverns and tasty restaurants of the Central Eastside Industrial District. The bright orange chairs popped against sidewalks of Portland cement, and blustering fallen leaves chased us in the front door. Lucie slept contentedly, bundled in her blanket, oblivious to the cold and the commotion. Continue Reading…
Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Ted worked a half day and rode the MAX home from work, and as traffic stacked up on Portland freeways, we took Lucie a dozen blocks down the road for a holiday kick-off cup of coffee and slice of Bipartisan Cafe pie…
I’ve been mothering a little sick baby this week. Two month old Lucie came down with her first cold, and the past string of days has been a blur of steam baths, nasal saline drops, delightful Swedish inventions (ha!), cuddles, nighttime rocking sessions, and daytime board books for temporary distraction from the snuffles (maybe more for me than her?).
Speaking of healthcare and temporary distractions from the snuffles (or snafus?)…
Oregonians: even though as of last week we haven’t enrolled a single applicant through our state’s insurance exchange website (oh, and we hired 400 temps to process paper applications in the meantime), just remember, we still have two killer music videos to remind us of healthy days. Continue Reading…
I bought so many notebooks as a university student studying landscape architecture (see lesson #86 on this comical list). Each bound set of blank pages served as a general catch-all for sketching quick ideas, taking inventory of possibilities, and capturing inspiring bits of life that otherwise tended to flutter away.
In the same spirit of gathering tidbits, I feel like sharing a few of the inspirations I’ve run across while browsing the web. A little hat-tip to the people and projects I’m enjoying these days.
And so, without further ado (*ahem. seems I can do Scattershot, but the I’m not so good at this Short & Sweet thing*), this new edition of Favorite Finds:
Seven Steps to Becoming a Spontaneous Traveler of the World – Maptia (“…a beautiful way to tell stories about places…on a mission to build the most inspirational map in the world.”) What can I say? The watercolor/notebook/map themes had me at hello. And #1 “Spin the Globe” takes me far, far back to childhood memories of watching Rex Harrison as Dr. Dolittle. Continue Reading…
At home in Portland, Oregon, I love to grow and shop for fresh produce, cook in my own kitchen, share meals with friends, and advocate for sustainable, nourishing food systems.
On the road, few things are better than visiting farmers markets around the world, discovering outstanding restaurants, taking cooking lessons from wonderful teachers, and meeting people who also possess a penchant for celebrating the unadulterated joys of food.
During our four week stay in Buenos Aires during the sweltering hot summer months of February and March, we managed to find a clearing in the haze of steak and pasta: a breath of fresh air at a closed-door-dinner hidden in a nondescript apartment building in our neighborhood.
Jueves a la Mesa, Thursday at the Table.
Red wine runs freely in Buenos Aires, but cool, clear water and bright vegetarian food on a hot summer night gave traditional Argentinian fare a run for the money.
Our friend Kaylea was visiting us from Oregon, and booking a spot at the mysterious un-restaurant seemed just the kind of adventure we were looking for. There is no publicized address. No walk-up table service. You must make reservations ahead of time, and only then do you receive directions to the hidden meal prepared and hosted in the owner’s home.
We three headed out into the night, following instructions to reach the gold-knobbed door to the lobby and the dated elevator leading up into the unknown… Continue Reading…
