Keep Portland Weird.

There is a popular bumper sticker in Portland: Keep Portland Weird. You know, I think we're doing a rather fine job on our own without the encouragement, thank you very much.

SUNSHINE!

I really could hardly believe it. That bright, warm, shiny, sunny, yellow thing in the sky all weekend. Sunshine? Could it be?

Naturally, B and I spent the weekend outside soaking up as much Vitamin D as possible. We spent Saturday on the Portland waterfront taking in the sites of the Rose Festival, this crazy two-week long "festival" that celebrates...roses? It's just another annual Portland event that we usually don't pay any attention to, but B was shooting engagement shots on the riverfront so we went down early to take in the sights-- dragon boat races, the carnival midway and most importantly, the people watching. Oh, the people watching. It was awesome with a capital AWE.

Sunday was even sunnier (is that a word?) so I hightailed it down to Corvallis to hang with Craig and Bridget. We headed for the disc golf course and were doing pretty good until we got held up at hole 15 by some fools who threw a frisbee in a tree. So Craig says, "Screw this, let's go drink beers." Hard to argue with that. We finished the day with beers on the sidewalk and then dinner in downtown Corvallis. Cheers to sunshine!

The twins are here!

Geoff and Julia's girls made their arrival on Friday. We are so excited for them!

Check these links for photos:

Julia's blog

Bryan's blog

Garden update

And now, for your early June garden update:

Nothing really to report in the produce department-- nothing in the garden is quite ready to harvest yet. I have a couple of strawberries that are just-about-almost turning pink and the romaine lettuce is getting a little-bit bigger, but everything else is just drowning in the soggy, mud muck that is the raised beds.

I do have some wildlife updates. It appears, though it may be too early to tell, that the deer fence is working. Now, I know they might not be coming in the garden yet because there isn't much to eat, but last year, they were munching on our starts from the very beginning. Success, full success.

However, we are fighting a slow, losing battle with the slugs. They are gross, icky, goopy and eat anything green they can get their grubby little mouths on. I've heard that beer kills them. They are attracted to its sweet hoppy taste and then they fall in and drown. Go figure that I would have to waste something I want to drink on those little slime balls.

An "Extreme" Weekend

Saturday:

National Trails Day, trail building project in Forest Park.

Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees. Yay!

Me, spreading REI cheer to the group of volunteers.

A happy, dry group of volunteer fence builders.

Sunday:

REI Paddle Demo Day, Vancouver Lake.

Weather: torrential downpour. Yuck.

The view out to the lake from the shore. All ready for the crowds...

Boats and paddle boards ready for action.

Correction.

It has rained in Portland for the past 17 days.

*sigh*

Send help!

It has rained here for the past 16 days. I'll be out back putting the finishing touches on my ark.

Corners of the New House

Why I love Portland

Always on the alert

B went out to catch the trash guy yesterday to give him our extra garbage can and the conversation went something like this:

Guy: So, you guys had a pretty good year last year.

B (looking confused): Um, yeah.

Guy: But, you lost Suh so that will be tough.

B (finally catching on): Oh right, yeah, we did.

Guy: Well, I'm an Oklahoma fan...

B: (turns back, walks away)

Turns out, B went out into public wearing his Nebraska sweatshirt. Little does he know, that when one is in public wearing Nebraska apparel, one must always be ready to talk football. Always.

Garden Report

The garden has been a little neglected lately. "Oh, I'll get more dirt this weekend." or "I'll plant my starts next week." Linda finally stopped asking me at work when I was going to put my plants in.

Well, I finally got my act together. With Linda's help, I got some more mulch to top off my beds--we managed to complete this task while getting completely soaked and muddy from head to toe-- and I finally paid a visit to the plant store for my starts.

And, on Tuesday morning, I finally got them in the ground. Bed #1: strawberries, shallots, green onions, leaf lettuce, spinach, romaine lettuce and broccoli. Bed #2: snap peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, green bell peppers, poblano peppers, habanero peppers, jalapeno peppers and okra. My own little farmer's market.

The weather has been horrendous since then-- temps in the 50's and sporadic downpours-- so I'm not exactly sure if they are actually growing, but at least they are in the beds. Plus, the deer fence seems to be working. So if I could just put in an order for a week of sunshine and 80 degree temps, that would be great. Please and thank you.

May showers

I have been experiencing a lot of showers lately. But actually, for once, not of the wet, rainy kind. This past weekend, we had a double-your-trouble baby shower for Julia and I scooted up to Seattle for a uber classy bridal shower for Dacia.

And, the funniest thing happened. All of the photos from Julia's shower? Blurry. All of the photos from Dacia's shower? Well, I didn't take any. This is so unlike me.

Anyway, if I had the photo evidence, it would show just exactly what a gorgeous mother-to-be Julia is and exactly what a beautiful, blushing bride-to-be Dacia is. Two, exciting life changing events. Congrats to such lovely ladies!

A New Place for our Heads

So, B and I are moving. Nine miles east of our current apartment to a nice little duplex in Mountain Park. We've been slowly packing for about two weeks now and we should be ready to move all the furniture on Sunday.

We have had a love/hate relationship with our apartment since we've been here. Love for the first couple of years and hate for last few. Which makes this next part super easy to type...

Things I won't miss about apartment living:

1. Listening to the people above us solve their differences by what only can be described as a screaming contest.

2. Listening to the movie the people below us are watching.

3. Accidentally walking up on a guy who is peeing on the recycling dumpster.

4. This closet.

5. Jockeying for a parking spot if you get home anytime after 9pm.

6. The white walls, white cabinets, white baseboards, white doors and white blinds.

7. The guy that throws his cigarette butts on my front porch. It's the same guy that spits loogies on my front porch.

The one and only thing I will miss about my apartment:

This view.

We're looking forward to seeing you at our new place!

The Greatest of Them All

Let me tell you a little story about two people I know pretty well: my mom and dad.

At of the end of summer 1999, their oldest son was finishing up an internship in Baltimore. He needed to move back home so they decided to pack up their other two children and head east to help him out. They drove from Nebraska to Maryland and back, following behind their eldest as he towed a U-haul trailer. That was the first time.

Then, in the spring of 2004, they hitched up a trailer of their own, full of their daughter's stuff and drove it the other way. West on the Oregon trail. It took them three days and one blown-out trailer tire to get here and they promptly helped her unpack her stuff in her new duplex in Portland, turned around and drove back to Nebraska.

Finally, just last week, they arrived in Oregon one more time. Pulling another U-haul trailer of their youngest son's stuff. They helped him unload in Corvallis, drove back up to Portland for a visit to IKEA and then back to Corvallis with more stuff. Then, they took off back to Nebraska. That was the third time.

Three times, these two have gone to considerable lengths to make their kids' crazy ideas become realities. They really are the greatest of them all and we (by we, I mean Scott, Gayle and Craig) wouldn't be where we are without them.

Mom and Dad, I heart you. So much.

One more time.

One last time on the slopes for the season. Well, one last time for me anyway, I'm sure B and Geoff will find a way to sneak out for another ski tour this season. But for a year that was less than stellar, I think eight ski days is pretty darn good.

They're back!

News flash: Craig and Bridget are back in the states. They flew into PDX on Tuesday afternoon and spent the next few days in Corvallis looking for jobs and a place to live. Oh yeah, news flash: they are moving here. Whooohooo!

We initiated them properly as Oregonians with beers at Amnesia Brewing, dinner at Miss Delta, a bluegrass show at the Wonder Ballroom and a crazy backwoods, snowed in hike in SW Washington.

For those of you keeping track, that's two Olsons down. Just three to go.

Girls Night Out

The Snowball Effect

Call us hippies or treehuggers or whatever else you'd like, but I'm afraid I have to admit we have turned into those people who get all fired up about litter.

I only get really fired up about a few things: laziness, processed food, Olive Garden commercials and litter. I seriously can't stand it when I see trash somewhere other than a trash can. I've been known to pick stuff up on the sidewalk on a walk or a jog and carry it back home. B regularly brings home a bag of cans and bottles to recycle on his walk back from the neighborhood tennis courts. Last year, on a hike, we spent a good 20 minutes trying to get a mylar balloon unstuck from a tree four miles up the trail in the woods. Two guys even stopped to help us. It was awesome.

Lately though, either we have become a little more "enthusiastic" about our cause or people are just throwing more stuff out, but things seemed to have snowballed and we are also finding ourselves a bit more "enthusiastic" about recycling as well. As evidenced by this photo: B after our hike out of Bear Canyon in Tucson last week.

However, I think I stepped it up a notch last Thursday when we flew out of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport back to Portland. With the airport security measures about liquids, B and I were left with the unfortunate situation of chugging an entire 32 oz. Gatorade before we could go through the security checkpoint. When we finally downed it, I looked around for a recycling bin and much to my dismay, there wasn't a single one in sight. So, horror of horrors, we had to throw it away. Arrgh. (Small side note: yes, I realize how blessed I am that my only worry in the world is not having a recycling bin at my every beck and call. I am fully aware of this.) We continued on our way through the checkpoint and were greeted on the other side by a whole host of recycling bins. It doesn't make sense. And you know what? I sat right there in the terminal, whipped out my smartphone, emailed Sky Harbor Airport and told them so.

Guess what happened? Ms. Claire Stern actually wrote me back yesterday:

Hi Gayle,

Thanks so much for traveling through Phoenix Sky Harbor!

You are right, we definitely need more recycling bins pre-security. I'm on a recycling committee that is working on the issue. The number of recycle bins pre-security now is actually more than we had just a few months ago - and we are working to increase that number even more. It seems like an easy fix, but unfortunately with security concerns and weight issues with blast-proof waste cans it is a little more complicated than one would initially think. We are actually getting some great ideas from other airports - including Portland's!

Please know that your concern has been heard and that this is something we are absolutely working on. In the future we hope your experience with our recycling program is much improved!

Again, thank you.

Claire Simeone Stern
Public Information Officer
City of Phoenix Aviation Department
602-683-3804
Claire.Stern@phoenix.gov

I frequently threaten to write an SWL (strongly worded letter) about a whole host of things, but I rarely follow through because I assume it will fall on deaf ears. But to do good, you actually have to do something. Write a letter, send an email, pick up a piece of trash, recycle a Gatorade bottle. This hippie treehugger wants to make a difference.

Check it out.

Bryan's website that is. It's all new and flashy. Yep, flashy.

Take a look! www.bryanhoybook.com

"The french fries are considered a vegetable."

The best show on TV right now: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

Are you watching?