I'll Be Home

It was a decade a go this week. The Husband & I traveled to Portland from our cottage in Seattle to visit a friend who was not expected to make it through his battle with cancer. Dave & Trish were longtime buddies that we visited with a few times a year. We had been throughtough times together. Trish called & let us know that Dave had been asking for us, so we traveled to Portland for what we were sure would be a tearful & troubled trip.

After a short visit that seemed to tax our friend, I was very shaken by Dave's condition & appearance & thought a drive & fresh air would lift us. We didn't actually have an agenda or know exactly where we were. The Husband & I were enjoying driving around & looking at the Portland neighborhoods & the homes & gardens as we drifted around North & Northeast Portland, Oregon.

We stopped once when I requested that the husband grab a flyer from the Plexiglas box attached to a "For Sale" sign in front of a pleasing Queen Anne home with an abundant rose garden, not our style at all, but I was curious about the price of homes in Portland.

We were shocked, stunned & stymied that what would be some homo's dream home, was listed at $160,000. We had been exploring the idea of buying a house in Seattle, where we had been renters, 15 years in the same 900 square foot house in the Wallingford neighborhood.  There were no, this in not hyperbole, NO homes in Seattle for less that $300,000, which might get you a meth-lab/chicken coop.

We drove for a but longer when the Husband exclaimed: "Stop! Pull Over! I am going to be sick!". He was clutching his chest & was having difficulty getting his breath.  When the Husband was at last collected enough to speak, his eyes were wide as he blurted: "Oh, My God! We are going to move to Portland!" I knew it was true in an instant.

David lived & then managed to get through 2 more bouts of different cancers. He & Trish divorced eventually. We purchased a little working class bungalow in a marginal neighborhood & were living here 12 weeks later.

From our real estate agent when we first moved in the house. This is what Post Apocalyptic Bohemia looked like a decade ago.

The same view a decade later

The mommies on the block have told me that the kids call the front garden: "The Jungle Of Russet Street"

The approach to the front porch

Some details from near the front porch

The view from inside looking out

That Is The Most Hyperbole That I Have Ever Experienced In A Zillion Years!

February Arctic Blast!, complete with special graphics & theme music. 6am-noon, the networks' programing was preempted by local coverage of the crippling blizzard of 2011. The openly gay mayor of Portland held a press conference yesterday urging citizens to drive only if they really must & to consider public transportation. Schools were canceled. Businesses closed. In the end, we experienced the tiniest dusting of snow that lasted a couple of hours.

The view downtown early in the morning

I grew up in Eastern Washington, where it snowed several feet a season, with storms from Halloween to Easter. I took my initial drivers' test when I was 16, during a snow storm. We must give a good chuckle to the rest of our great country as Portland, Oregon grapples with the paralyzing flurries that stopped us cold. I am embarrassed. In fact I am more embarrassed than I have ever, ever been in my entire life!

 The view of the back garden at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia. Note the impressive total snow fall.

The forecasters caledl it all wrong, as usual, but we are going to experience record setting cold in the next 48 hours. The most cold Arctic air that has ever blasted into Portland ever in the history of our city! I will most likely freeze to death!

Born On This Day- February 19th... Beautiful, Bodacious, Buxxom Beth Ditto

Portland has an interesting list of our local Rock celebrities including working members from: Modest Mouse, Sleater-Kinney, The Shins, Spoon, Pavement, The Dandy Warhols, Pink Martini,& the current PDX musical royalty- The Decemberists. My very own neighborhood is the home of provocative, powerful, plus-size punker & cover girl- Beth Ditto of the band- Gossip.

No wonder then that Ditto settled in NoPo. Mary Beth Patterson grew up in a 2-bedroom house in Arkansas, with her mother, 6 siblings & a heap full of stepfathers & relatives, at times there would be 12 people living in the tiny house. Her mother worked swing shift as a nurse in attempt to provide for them all. Ditto was left to her own devices, & she would sometimes shoot squirrels to eat. She would do well trying to survive in my back garden- Squirrel Central. Ditto claims that her childhood seems best summed up during a chance meeting with Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas: “I looked like some wild animal with bruises on my face & chocolate round my mouth. I asked him to sign my dollar bill & he said: ‘I think that’s illegal, little darlin’.’”


Desperate to make music, at 18 Ditto moved to Portland, Oregon & changed her name. Despite her bad ass voice, she wasn’t an overnight success. It took Gossip 4 albums to make it huge with Standing in the Way of Control in 2007. Being a punk is apparently no less demanding than being a fashionista. Ditto: “If you think fashion is snobby, go hang out with some punks. They are beyond elitist.”

She has been with the same woman- Freddie, for a decade+, though they don’t live together. Ditto: “We tried that once & it did not work. We got together when I was 19. I haven’t had any other experiences in my life... & I won’t.” But a surprising domesticity has crept in, as she recently bought herself a house in my neighborhood. I see her around, & of course I would like to make her acquaintance. Hanging out with Ditto at the many Portland Framers’ Markets would be hot. I would like to take her around to the neighborhood dive bars & music venues & we could determine who has the cheapest whiskey & best Tater Tots.


Ditto turns 30 today. Age & dress size.

Portland Is A Place Where Young People Go To Retire

May I share just a few photographs of some of my favorite sights around zany Portland?

The historic Kenton Firehouse in my neighborhood. I pass by it on dog walks & on my way to the MAX train. Built in 1912 & once housing horse-drawn fire wagons,  it was boarded up in 1959. Neighbors persuaded the city to let them restore the firehouse. They raised $500,000 & reinforced the brickwork, painted & added a new roof & kitchen. They reopened the firehouse for events in 1977. The top floor is the home of the a City of Portland Neighborhood services office. I really like the firehouse a bunch.

From the Max Train in Old Town/Chinatown

Portland has a wealth of vintage neon. I love a good dive bar. This one is in Southeast Portland, close to my company's HQ.

Downtown, close to what used to be the gay area- Vaseline Alley.

2 blocks from my work, They also offer malt liquor & porn.

A block away from work at the Start of the South Park Blocks

A block from Post Apocalyptic Bohemia. This spot recently went out of business, appearently from the lack of crowds on Wens.

Beer, Books, Bikes, Bands, Brews, Bakeries, Bears... Portland

The last 2 days have been a gift. After one of the coolest, wettest summers on record, with a growing season too short to have ripe tomatoes or pumpkins, Portland has enjoyed a glorious autumn. We had days in the 70s & 80s in October.The start of November has been a gift. Today is the 4th day of the month & it will 70+ & sunny. By a zany set of circumstances, I have a 5 days stretch with only one work day. Today, we will continue to put the garden to bed, but I plan to spend a big chunk of time just "being", & enjoying Post Apocalyptic Bohemia & feeling very fortunate to live in Portland, in my nutty neighborhood of Kenton. Tonight the husband is making a vegan feast, I am serving a special autumn cocktail, as we entertain Pony Boy & his BF- Special K for a Glee Marathon. During my staycation, I am hoping to exercise one of my most important maxims:" If to feels or tastes good; more is even gooder."