Skip to main content

Portland (2)

I'm falling in love with Portland. It's not the same uncontrollable love I first felt for Vancouver, it's more a love that grows from familiarity, like the love I have for Boston.  It's more respect and understanding than anything else, but it'll do.  Portland reminds me a lot of what would happen if you took my home city and plopped Boston on top of it.  It's equal parts ramshackle and ritz.  It's classy but it's edgy too, the traffic is a little bit crazy at times, but drivers are great at letting pedestrians cross the road.  It's quiet and empty most of the day but people do appear in ones and twos as the evening wears on.

Yesterday I went to another noon event; Matt Brown played at The Square.  If the jeans with the shirt and tie weren't enough to convince me he was awesome, his music certainly did.  It's not often that you find someone who is somehow inexplicably better live than they are looped on CD, but he's in good company with some of my favorites now.  I can say that for sure.  My favorite of his so far is 'Acrobat' which there's a link to on his website if you're interested.

After the show ended, I wandered down along the waterfront and then back up to the Pearl District.  I was going to call it an early day (a really early day) but decided instead to wander down to the farmer's market around the corner and spend some time in the park calling home before dinner.

Today I'm off to the World Forestry Center and perhaps Hoyt Arboretum depending on how things are going.  I leave late tomorrow for San Francisco, so I'm planning on an early night tonight so I can pack and gear up for the busy day I have planned tomorrow (Sunday Market and the book fair).

Comments

  1. Omg! Lisa and music and travel and trees and books and markets! It's everything I love!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The music in Portland is beyond perfect. Granted most things are in that hipster artsy sort of way that I love, plus Powell's Books, just guh. Basically if I were making up a Becca North America tour itinerary Portland would be on it *g* granted I mean I would penciling my name right in next to yours but you know...

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teaser Tuesday - April 14th

"My mother would never let the hearth die in her home," Margret said. She felt Agnes turn to look at her, but didn't meet her gaze. "She believed that as long as a light burned in the house, the Devil couldn't get in. Not even during the witching hour." Agnes was quiet. "What do you believe?" she asked eventually. Margret extended her hands towards the flames. "I think a fire is a useful thing to keep a body warm," she said. - Burial Rites by Hannah Kent Teaser Tuesday is  hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading . For other contributions click here .

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday because Becca 's quote from Catcher in the Rye makes me wonder what my  problem with that book is. Teaser Tuesday is  hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading . Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve  given! The various images bounced against each other until she felt a desperate vertigo, as if she could at any moment pitch backward and plunge head first down the well shaft and drown there, the sky far above her, her last vision but a bright circle set in the dark, no bigger than a full moon.  (p. 49) --  Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Vancouver 2014: Camping!

Camping is one of those things that's hard to share via picture, moving or still.  It's so much about the experience, the stars overhead, the springy soft ground underfoot, the wind on your face, that first pure hint of morning light, meals cooked by fire and ember. Sure there are the stories you tell, the ones around the campfire and down at the lake, and the ones you tell after, but it's not the same.  Stories can conjure memories and emotions but they can't make the sun shine or moths fall from overhead lights.  Okay, maybe the last one, moths are sneaky, but the rest, these personal moments and experiences, they're a lot harder to convey.  I'll leave it at I had an absolutely amazing time, despite the lack of nonrock based floors and comfortable chairs, I would have turned right around and done it again.  The lack of technology was restful and the presence of that much nature was restorative.  We mostly relaxed but I did get to see some amazing sights and