Unexpected Friends and Unexpected Naked Parades

It’s always nice to find out that people you know and love are in your neighborhood. This is especially true when you have moved a continent away from most of the people you know and love.

We have had several such surprises.

First, we were surprised to hear that our good friend, Molly and her boyfriend Nick, were here visiting her sister who interns at Nike. Molly is a friend of both of ours from VT; from my major and from Tess’ Class.

We had a nice evening talking about our careers; she has a job working with Low Impact Development. You dedicated blog readers will recall that I am taking classes in that soon ; ) . We happened to catch, by chance, the International Naked Bike Ride of Portland as it passed down the street where we were. It gathered a record number of participants this year, with approximately 10,000 bikers to “Bare as much as you Dare”. Sorry this image is so blurry, but you probably don't want to see it anyway. It was all a blur. "Keep Portland Weird", indeed.

The City of Roses

Although Portland has many nicknames, its official nickname is "The City of Roses."

We finally made it to the Rose Garden with our new friend Annie. After just missing prime Rhododendron viewing, I am happy to say that we made it to prime rose viewing! And WOW!

I think it is one of my favorite places. The Rose Garden has hundreds of rose plots. All of which are different! Who would ever think there are sooo many varieties of roses. SO MANY varieties! One unbelievably VIVID color after another.

And such fantastic smells (not all rose smells are created equal!). Some were “rosey,” some perfume-y, some sweet, some spicy, some not fragrant at all, some with very familiar smells that you juuust couldn’t put your olfactory glands on, and every combination in between. We pinpointed several smells: Fruit Loops, “dinner”, some kind of candy, an office store (it seriously smelled like a Staples store). The absolute best smelling one, and one of the most pleasant smells I have maybe ever smelled, was named New Zealand.

A very beautiful garden that I wish everyone could experience in its prime. I can't imagine a better place to indulge in beautiful colors and pleasant fragrances.

I have included a collage of close-ups that I have taken.

I have already decided that several of my favorite varieties will be included in my future garden.

Click on the Photos for a way better version!

Last Thursday's!

On the last Thursday of every month, in the up-and-coming Alberta district, there is a craft fair unlike any craft fair…

It is completely free for vendors and there are very few rules; you just show up, set up, and peddle your wares. It all just kind of started as a few people selling some items, and has grown into this fantastic event.

The unofficial nature and complete openness spawns a crowd which more resembles a circus than that of a craft fair. Since it is free to sell your goods, it draws the full gamut of artists and craftsmen from the creative “starving artist”, to the well-established vendors, to kids selling some “refrigerator-art”. The weird crowd pulls in unique entertainment: bands (of all varieties) on every corner, a trapeze artist, fire juggling acts, dancers, clowns… you name it.

So, if you need a $200 wooden bowl for the mantel, that perfect piece of erotic art for the baby’s room, or just want to dine on some unregulated street food and people-watch….this is the place to do it!

An acquaintance told us that they attempted to shut down a kids lemonade stand a few weeks ago, and the people all but rioted on principle, and at the following event, lemonade stands were uber popular! So….Keep Portland Weird [and don’t mess with the Laissez-(street)-faire mentality]!

Rhododendron Garden

The Rhododendron Garden is a free park within the city, about a 12 minute bike ride from our current house. A beautiful park filled with many many varieties of Rhododendron. Unfortunately, we were “a day late”, as we were juuuust about a week past when Rhododendron are in their prime. That is too bad, because given how beautiful this park is, when it isn’t painted with a hundreds of colors, it is probably breathtaking in its prime.