Open Eyes

I have been distracted for the last several months, maybe for the last year. I have been moving, learning about myself, wrapped up in what seems most important in the moment. Tonight my eyes were opened anew.

It is the 11th hour for civilization as we know it. I am appalled, enraged, and saddened by humanity's treatment of our planet. The system is broken. The earth is not a limitless resource. We cannot continue to live on energy borrowed from millennia ago. It is becoming more and more obvious that we have overstepped our bounds. I had forgotten momentarily the magnitude of the devastation of which we are capable. Don't even get me started on politics.

Pure awe at the capacity of earth for creation and purification, however powerful, is only the first step to recovery. I have lapsed in my studies, lost my voice for the issues. Here is one of the most supportive cities in the U.S. and I have completely forgotten myself. It's time for me to hit the books, find a group to lend my voice, start writing again, and register to vote. It is the 11th hour; the storm is coming. It's 11:59.

Open up your eyes.

Space Pods and other creepy things

There are some things in the world that just make my skin crawl. Chief among them are those things that give birth to their young through their skin. Who knew I would confront my ultimate heebie jeebie at the Portland Classical Chinese Gardens? Lotus pods are just one form of this inter-Kingdom freakishness.

To me, the most horrifying grotesque putrid thing in the world may have to be the Surinam toad. Coupled with the fact that I am more than a little disturbed by amphibians, these toaads have the most disgusting of all births. During mating the males' actions press the fertilized eggs into the soft skin on the females' backs. Her skin heals over the eggs forming a honey comb of pockets. Then, in a few weeks the little toadlets emerge leaving the mother a pitted horror-show. (I refuse to disgrace my blog with a picture of these things, besides just looking up that link made me queasy.)
It is for these same reasons I don't like berries. Sure they seem innocent enough, but left unattended those egg laden skins can turn into this:
And that's a risk I'm just not willing to take.

Since I have sickened myself with all this skin-baby talk I'll leave on a good note. My favorite structure in Portland: the St. John's bridge.
The bridge was completed in 1931. It provided many workers with jobs during the first years of the Depression. At the time it had

• the highest clearance in the nation,
• the longest prefabricated steel cable rope strands,
• the tallest steel frame piers of reinforced concrete,
• the first application of aviation clearance lights to the towers, and
• longest suspension span west of Detroit, Michigan.

It gives me a little dose of Oz every time I cross it. I am so glad it's in the neighborhood.

Weekend Escape

Labor Day weekend was the last weekend that neither Chad or I will have rehearsal or a show to be working on until Thanksgiving! With that in mind, we had to get out of town while we could. We retreated from the Portland city limits to the hills just southwest of town - wine country!
We stopped first at the Anne Amie winery. If Pinots are their specialty, I don't know why they don't have more of them on their tasting flights. Most of the wine we tasted seemed incomplete, sour even. The Pinot Gris and Noir were much better than the rest of the flight, and truly stood out as the wine on which they focus their energy.
What Anne Amie lacked in taste, they made up for in scenery. Outside their antiquated tasting room, the Coastal Range unfolds in front of you. They have a beautiful garden, and this passion flower bloom begged for a photo.
Our next wine destination was closed for a private event; however, we stumbled upon this gem, the Red Ridge Farms Herb and Plant center. Row after row of carefully labeled immaculately cultivated flora. We both had a good time snapping shots of some of their showier plants.


We took a chance stopping at Sokol Blosser Winery and couldn't have been happier about it. Beautiful setting, very tasty, full, drinkable wines, and organic to boot!
Oh, and did I mention that the wines are affordable? Even their dessert Riesling was perfectly balanced finishing in a bright note of crisp apple. Another bonus, Sokol Blosser is the first winery in North America to receive a LEED rating for their cellar. A scrumptious end to a delicously free Saturday.

Back In Action!

Finally, finally back on the blog. We finally had our move-in inspection yesterday (we've been in the apartment for 5 weeks), and we celebrated by putting things up on our walls. What a difference it makes! There are many things to share, but we'll start with a tour of the new abode... The first picture is the boy busy in the kitchen cooking dinner for us. You can see the new kitchen table and stools. (No wall adornments for this photo.)
Dear family, please note the kitchen is pretty tiny... there's no space for any more things. No more hand me downs. Please direct the rest of your used kitchen goods to Kendal.
I love this sun from Baja California. It's found its way under my favorite light in the house - the above the sink light. My parents and older sister always leave a light on in the kitchen, and now I do too (but not overnight). I know it's not the most environmentally friendly thing (and someone is on my case for it rather frequently), but it is very comforting nonetheless. On to the other rooms...

























The bedroom isn't very interesting right now... This is the only room we cannot reach a consensus about. We did find a pretty sweet dresser on craigslist.org.
The "spare oom" almost has me convinced that green, red, and black go together. The backside of the bedspread I got in Turkey last summer makes it seem possible. That's the breaker box in the corner that we're not allowed to cover up. Delightfully tacky yet unrefined... you'd better believe it.
Last, but not least - the living room! Our couch was another great craigslist find (it's from IKEA originally). We're (okay, I'm) planning some sort of green/grey/brown bamboo-feeling decor happening in here... but we'll see. All in all the apartment is very bright (critical for the Denver to Portland transition) and we're enjoying learning how to live together.

More from updates from PDX soon...

MIA

Dear Friends and Family,

I don't know how many of you are actually tuning in to this these days. It has been a busy month and a half since leaving Marin. I am now in Portland, hoping to get approved for a beautiful apartment, getting settled in at an awesome internship, waiting for Chad to get here and generally trying to find my way around. I have lots of updates to make, but, sadly, the internet connection here where I'm subletting is too slow for me to try to upload all the pictures and stories I should.

In the meantime, cross your fingers for us.

More very soon, I hope. :)

K

Things I Miss about Marin

I've been back in Denver for almost a month now. After some time away, it's easy to say what I miss the most about the Bay Area.

1. Water. The ocean, the bay, the fog, all of it.
   
2. Postcard views everywhere.
3. The quiet and solitude of our little house in the park.
4. Hiking out the front door.
   
5. Day trips with the ladies.

Of course there are things I will not miss quite so much.

1. Living behind the "iron curtain" w/ no cell reception, no tv, no internent, and 2 mediocre radio stations.
2. My bosses randomly coming into the house whether we're home or not.
3. Bay Area traffic.
4. The insanely high cost of living.
5. People driving down the wrong way at me in a one way tunnel.
   

It was a beautiful blip on my radar, and a great way to transition to the next part of my life, but probably not where I will end up. I keep coming back to a quote from the Baz Lurman Everyone is Free to Wear Sunscreen "song."

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Part 2, check.

Bay To Breakers

In the land of San Francisco there is one event that reigns supreme above all others: Bay to Breakers. This 7 mile trek across the peninsula is a mobile riot that unsues annually. Those of you not in the area should know a few things.

1. It starts at 8 am (we got up at 6).
2. Crappy beer consumption is required.
3. The more outlandish your costume is, the better you are.
4. For whatever reason, tortilla throwing is a big part of it.
   

With that said, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.


We were three of about 100 vikings. We had a long boat. We passed out at noon. It was amazing.

Tiny Time

Last week my older sister and nephew made the trip west to Cali. We did the usual smattering of touristy trotting around. It was great to get one last look at a lot of the places I love around here. I am really going to miss watching Rodeo Beach from my office window.
At the Aquarium of the Bay - all the sea stars were feeding! That's this bat star's stomach exuded from it's mouth! I had a total geek session when I found one that had a little fish in it's stomach. Truly gross and awesome.
We spent a record 98 degree day at Muir Beach exploring tide pools and avoiding ugly naked guys. It was also very very windy so everything we brought with us got choked with sand - we had to call it quits early and seek refuge in the house. That night we ate out at Pacific Catch, a restaurant that is a little commercial for my taste but has a delicious menu ranging all over the Pacific. Shelby got a sushi-based dish and I got tacos - it was lovely!
On Friday, we drove up the road a ways to Mt. Tamalpais State Park (Mt. Tam to the locals). We stumbled on this giant amphitheater in the park and I had flashbacks of hiking in Greece and Turkey. Let's just say the ancient Romans, Greeks and Lydians were way better amphitheater makers than anyone in Marin county. I so wanted to find a the entrance to the vomitorium, to see mason's marks, and feel the worn places were people have walked for thousands of years. Alas, no such luck. Llama Lady - this would have been prime jumping picture real estate. Anyways, they do plays up here in the summer, and they were building the set for The Wizard of Oz while we were there. I don't think you could pay me to watch a whole show on these seats though - ouch!
Further down the path we saw a wild turkey! This place is ridiculous.
From the top of Mt. Tam you can see the entire Bay Area, the Farallon Islands, and the curvature of the earth. I am going to miss the coast so much. We found this view on our vertical "short cut" back to the car (which my nephew renamed Charlie).
After Mt. Tam we braved the outdoors again. This beach is adjacent to Rodeo Beach; I'm not sure if it has its own name or not. I had never made it down here before, but I will certainly be going back before I leave. As the waves moved toward the shore, Tiny would hold up both arms and shout "It comes! It comes!" Then "P'CHOW!" like Mickey Mouse in the wizard's hat on Fantasia he would conduct the crashing on the beach!
Totally my favorite 2 year old!

Portland Pit Stop

The Gerding Theater at the Armory in Portland, Oregon - the location of my next internship and the reason I'll soon be moving to Portland! I spent a 2 1/2 days there recently checking things out and loved everything I saw. Portland Center Stage undertook the renovation of this historic building making it both the first historic renovation and the first theater to receive an LEED platinum rating (i.e. really really green). That's their company fleet, the little blue zipcar in front. There are so many exciting things to say about this place, but I couldn't possibly list them all here. Let's just say I'm very excited about where I'll be working and who I'll be working with.
One block away from the theater (which in Portland is 200ft) is Powell's Books, the world's largest independent bookstore. This is one of three rows of the theatre section, a section usually dedicated to the tiniest deepest recesses of book retailers. This section was less than half Shakespeare. I love the guy, respect his work, but honestly, it was great to see so many other playwrights represented. Laying out on the end of one of the shelves was a book on Julie Taymor; I expect to be spending a lot of time and money at Powell's. They even have an art gallery upstairs currently dedicated to paintings on black velvet.
Also within a block of the theater are a gelato shop, a Whole Foods, an Anthropologie (that's cool clothes for all you boys), and a microbrewery! Heaven.

I honestly didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have while I was in Portland. I was furiously taking notes about neighborhoods and things I liked about them, but I did make it to the zoo.
These fruit bats put on a pretty good show. I didn't spend as much time at the zoo as I really wanted to because I'm pretty sure every elementary school student in the greater metro area was there with me. It was terrifying and very good birth control.
Did this little appaloosa try to get away? I don't know why anyone would literally bolt a plastic toy to a curb, but this is a major drawing point for me to move into this neighborhood which already has a lot going for it.

Look for many many more Portland pictures in July...

Geysers, Goats and Petrified Forests

So what are the main attractions in Napa? Wine, you might guess, well you are so wrong. Where else on earth could you see an Old Faithful geyser, belching 4-horned sheep aaaannnnd a perfectly preserved petrified forest? You have no idea right! So secretly the Napa Valley is a great place for geology buffs because millions of years ago the area was formed by volcanic activity. (Incidentally, volcanic soils are great for growing grapes.)
This little gravel pit is pretty pathetic for anyone who has ever been to Yellowstone, but the geyser was still pretty B. A. However, my professors would cry if they new that the little plaque in front of the geyser there reads something to the effect of "Many years ago, travelers trekking through the bamboo discovered the strange pool of heated water..." Because bamboo was definitely introduced in the area in the 1900's way after this place was discovered. Now what they lacked in historical accuracy, they made up for with random farmyard animals.
This one's for you Llama Lady - that was one good lookin' quadraped.
These creepy guys are Jacob's 4 Horned Sheep. Yup - there's actually four of them. They sound more like foghorns than sheep and were not into the whole petting zoo atmosphere like the other critters. (There were also african pygmy goats and fainting goats.) A geyser and 4 species of smelly herbivores and a fantastic postcard all for $7. What a winner! Now on to the really good stuff...
Millions of years ago, the volcano where that hill (Mt. St. Helena) sits erupted. Pouring out this ashflow:
The ash flow knocked over a forest of coastal redwoods, buried the hills, and with lots of time and a little geologic magic petrified the trees resulting in one of the best preserved groups of petrified trees in the world.
While there we also got invited to go on a short nature walk with the grounds keeper. He point out lots of wildflowers, and some of the local trees including the madrones, and this manzanita with caterpillar.
And then... we went to Taylor's Refresher (A-mazing burgers) and theeen Copia (culinary museum) and theeen we had to go home to take naps. :D