I was headed to the basement last Friday when I noticed this sign on the side of my neighbor’s house. The day was bright and sunny so my first thought was that it be a signal of an early spring. Whereas the groundhog does not make an annual appearance in Oregon, we are left to interrupt the winter/spring transition ourselves.
The past several days have dashed my hopes for an early spring; we have experienced two wind storms, rain, hail, sleet, and snow. So what could this sign mean?
It’s funny how you do something once or twice and suddenly it has become a tradition. A few weeks ago I called my friend Dale to remind him that that his birthday was approaching and that tradition dictated we get together for lunch. I must have caught him on a bad day; he proceeded to inform me that he no longer wished to celebrate birthdays! I paused and reminded him that it was tradition so how about we just call it an “un-birthday” celebration? I further suggested that he plan a day that would be filled with outrageous activities for us to accomplish. He inquired if I had something in mind and then mentioned that he has no desire to get arrested! I simply told him to give it some thought and get back to me.
We spoke again about a week later and he told me that he had developed a plan for the “un-birthday” celebration. His idea of an outrageous day was to ride the light rail train into the big city of Portland, Oregon and partake of a few of the city’s cultural opportunities. As someone who seldom goes to the city, it sounded like a good day to me.
Our first stop was at one of Portland’s more weird establishments, the Voodoo Doughnut shop. Now if you love doughnuts, and who doesn’t, visiting this shop is a must when you are in Portland. The doughnuts run from the simple to the exotic; picture if you will doughnuts topped with Coco Puffs, Captain Crunch, or Fruit loops. If that doesn’t get you, perhaps the maple bar topped with a slice of bacon will. Just for the record, we both feasted on a doughnut, but we both chose from their less flashy offerings.
Our next adventure was to hop the street car and ride it to Powell’s Books. Without a doubt, this store is a Portland intuition; the main store covers an entire city block and boasts over one million books in stock. Walking into the store is a bit overwhelming so be sure to pick up a map at the front counter. I actually left the store with a feeling of accomplishment because I noticed three book that I have recently read!
The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting several of the city’s historic parks before boarding the train for the return trip to the suburbs. Tradition will soon be upon us as my birthday is not too far off. Perhaps another outrageous day in the big city would be in order.
