Under a Red Roof

The Old Neighborhood

June 20, 2018 in Loving, Traveling by Colleen | Permalink

Direction: Northwest!!

Hood * Jefferson * Three Sisters

And Mt. Hood, all by its lonesome.

The most wonderful reasons for my return to Portland! Solveig’s little Luna had her third, and we sure hope final, open heart surgery, the Fontan. Our girl (now age five!) is a true heart warrior, having the strength to come home from the hospital a mere week after surgery. While she isn’t 100% and we need to be careful not to bump or jostle her, the strides she’s making are really quite remarkable. Her baby brother, Zoran, has grown by leaps and bounds since we last cuddled and bounced, with an adorable personality to match. I love them all so much!

Most of my time alone was spent sleeping and wandering the city for old haunts and memories. I am super happy to report that many remain. I was so afraid of a city so changed as to be unrecognizable. Though there are differences (good gracious SE 50th Avenue!) there was much more that sent my heart galloping with glee.

Brown Lumber was one of our beloved local spots to buy supplies for our million and one home improvement projects. They have super customer service, but I liked their sign best:

WATCH OUT FOR THE POST WHEN BACKING UP

POST 111

TRUCKS 0

Gets me every time…

At the zoo…

Southeast Portland gets its Bushwick on, fabulous mural style.

GUN not GONE

Never was, never will be.

Tofu makes my body wanna DIE, but I’m happy to see this old Portland business is still plugging along.

One of my favorite Portland peeps (Hi Susan!) with some of my favorite food:

the cocktel del pulpo at Tacqueria Nueve!

Southbound Number 75

I shall never tire of this view

Or this one!

More to come…

Tags: Portland, Traveling

Twenty-Five Years Married…

May 29, 2018 in Friendship, Loving, Practicing by Colleen | Permalink

Today is our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Gosh and huzzah, wow, wow, wow, we have come so far together. We are wonderfully strong together, happy together, silly together, mostly wise together, and sometimes stupid together. Most of all, we are crazy in love TOGETHER.

In some ways it is a total surprise, that our lives have cycled through twenty-five years, a mad dream of beauty, wonder, and adventure. Still others, it feels like an eternity. How could there ever be a time when we weren’t practically attached at the hip? The slim space between us the breadth of the universe. That is us, so close, yet so unhindered and free.

It is not always easy, and we have fumbled and blundered, but our LOVE and will for cooperation remains stronger than anything that has wished to see us apart.

Here’s to the next twenty-five years….

New Mexican Black Dog

March 28, 2018 in Friendship, Loving by Colleen | Permalink

New Mexican Black Dog. Maybe not technically a breed but the most accurate description of our girl. She is most likely a Kelpie – Cattle Dog mix, but we’re happy to let the mystery linger.

What we DO know – that she loves all that is important in a dog’s life – to hike and walk and eat and cuddle and play. Oh, and dig holes (grrr…) and run, especially after rabbits and squirrels.

Sap

March 2, 2018 in Cooking + Baking, Loving, Remembering by Colleen | Permalink

Oodles of zoodles, and a few meatballs, too. Zoodles, if you don’t know, are made by spiralizing a zucchini, which is pretty darned awesome. Heat them in the oven, and they, to my mind, are the best substitute for pasta. But that isn’t really fair, because I would honestly rather eat the zoodles. Really!

Why? I have been trying, and succeeding a good 90% of the time (sweets the weightiest albatross), at eating low carb. Not to be part of a growing bandwagon, but because my body has gotten very LOUD about what constitutes its best fuel. After trying just about every food combination imaginable to keep my hormones (and dreaded endometriosis) in check, keto (low carb high fat) works THE best. I have very little pain, fewer hot flashes, better digestion, more energy and focus (I didn’t know how foggy I was until I made the change). Also, to quote my friend Chrissie, “Where did your wrinkles go?” She is exaggerating, but my skin looks and feels great for a forty-six(!) year old. So zoodles, and casseroles consisting of my favorite pizza toppings (fennel, roasted bell pepper, mushroom, & Italian sausage), salmon, hamburgers without buns, bacon, and piles and piles of green things: broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, kale, lettuce, avocado, cabbage. These are my staples. So good.

Such a sap for this sweet girl, who, even in sleep is almost always on the move, wiggling, panting, stretching, smiling, cuddling. Juniper Beulah, I love you!

And to make this post an even more odd assortment, tomorrow I am going to my grandparents house for the first time since my Grandpa died. For reasons both obvious and puzzling, I am feeling a bit wrecked at the prospect. My family, member by member, is taking furniture and knickknacks, items random and sundry, and dispersing them to the four winds and our respective homes. My list includes a ladder-back chair, a whisk, bookends, a bowl, muffin tins, and a stool. Every single item touched by my grandparents hands, well used, loved even. Soon enough the house will be empty of Lewis and Sohn and Johnstone traces. With laughter, the sound of traffic, the flutter of toilet paper by the heat register, the creak of stair to the basement, a glimpse in the mirror at the end of the hall seen and heard by other eyes, filled with other voices. More than sixty years of memories. My whole life, thus far, and I am at a loss. Say a little prayer for me…

Happy Birthday, Juniper!

February 11, 2018 in Exploring, Loving by Colleen | Permalink

Deep velvet black tuxedo and brindle; quiet, a day with a bark as frequent as a full moon; paws the scent of corn chips, amber eyes rimmed in thick lashes. Our girl, Juniper Beulah. She is the best greeter, wriggling and wiggling into tight “C” shapes, little tail nubbin a separate and most ecstatic mover of its own.

We adopted her one year ago today! Nervous heap of a pup, forty-five pounds lodged solidly on my lap for the car ride home. Tired and tentative, we coaxed her in and out of her crate with food. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But we kept at it, walking (more, more, more!) cuddling, loving, watching her bud and blossom into her true self.

She is a dog’s dog: scratching, licking, nibbling at an itch as one would an ear of corn. A supreme lover of W A L K S and ace whimperer when she believes she is overdue. Same goes for breakfast, dinner, the afternoon treat, too.

On the office chair she cuddles, in bed after gobbling down breakfast, on the sofa come evening time, but NOT in summer, and never when it is time for a W A L K (see a pattern here?). She sleeps on beds in our respective offices, dividing her time.

Afternoons, and after not long enough promenades, she frolics, silly and free in the back yard. An often eager digger, she works to unearth freshly covered holes before animating sticks and her one toy (particular, she is) with high and wild gestures of Juniper joy.

Every evening, at unpredictable times of HER choosing, early to late, she puts her own self to bed. Dead asleep on the sofa one moment, eyes wide, air of genuine concern the next, before hopping along and ever-so-patiently waiting for the crate door to open. She will not do it herself.

A ridiculously fine traveler, quick maker of friends, and honorary member of our RPG group, she is simply the best. We count our luck in the sound of her sighs and cheeks licked in the stealth of conversation. Here’s to a wonderful year with our magical girl!