Just over a year ago I worked a full day at OHSU, boarded Tri-MET and conveniently jumped off a few blocks from Portland’s Amtrak station. Within an hour or two I boarded the Empire Builder train and undertook my overnight journey to Whitefish, Montana. I traveled without hand sanitizer or mask, and my biggest fear … Continue reading What a difference a year makes
A tribute to Clackamas County
This is the first week in awhile I haven't been able to distract myself from all that is going on to continue to focus on my Work in Progress. Most days, even with COVID-19, I get to my day job stuff early in the morning so to try to leave some brain space for late … Continue reading A tribute to Clackamas County
Oaks Park: Portland’s Coney Island on the Willamette
This photograph, taken by F. Sowell around 1912, shows Edward Klees pulling taffy at Oaks Amusement Park. Image credit: Oregon History Project. My oldest memory tied to Portland's Oaks Park mostly reminds me of the Don McLean song American Pie. When it was first popular on the radio, early in the 1970s, I was an … Continue reading Oaks Park: Portland’s Coney Island on the Willamette
Grief: from journal to blog to memoir and back again
I have often felt I write "best" when I am sad. This feels like an odd thing to share, and it isn't to say that I don't enjoy writing about humorous or light topics. I have been thinking a lot about grief lately. I've been feeling it too, like so many of us at this … Continue reading Grief: from journal to blog to memoir and back again
As you lie resting
My nose and mouth are hidden by a flowery purple print, fabric better suited for a spring tea than to be saturated with dampness on this hot summer day. The cloth tastes salty if I lick it, fresh residue from sweat, tears and snot. If it’s a day you are in bed, I stand outside … Continue reading As you lie resting
What I wish I knew before
So, you say, your partner (loved one, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend) has decided to run for a political office? I decided, perhaps it would be helpful for me to come up with some tips I've learned over the past almost 8 years, about what to expect. Take them as you like, in jest or full seriousness. … Continue reading What I wish I knew before
About that e-bike…
Have bike. Will cross rivers. It was exactly one year ago when I changed my mind about e-bikes. Prior to that, when those irritating super-charged-two-wheelers passed me climbing up Terwilliger Boulevard as I sweatily made my way to work, I'd let out a harrumph. (Is that really what we say - or just what we … Continue reading About that e-bike…
My dear friend
My dear friend.Was the warm fishy smell of the river seeping out of the banks?You know the smell, the one that all of us from around here mark as Summertime.Summertime on the rivers of the Willamette Valley.Cottonwood fiber and blackberry and a few fish heads that someone left behind.All mixed up together as if a … Continue reading My dear friend
In appreciation of Oregon’s Century Farms
Fiala Farms Note: I wrote this blog earlier this year, but never posted it. It was one of three blogs I either crafted or updated to complete the topics I felt needed to be represented in my February 2020 released e-book: THEN, NOW, AND IN-BETWEEN: Place, Memories, and Loss in Oregon. Today, while on a … Continue reading In appreciation of Oregon’s Century Farms
Plague 2020: we are in this together
For months I've been obsessed about one thing: yes, you know what it is. Some fellow writers have successfully immersed themselves, creating lyrics and phrases deliberately avoiding references to virus or pandemic or physical isolating or face coverings. Maybe it’s because I'm an industrial hygienist, my work saturated with the novel coronavirus, making it difficult … Continue reading Plague 2020: we are in this together
