Judy – Page 158 – Dear Liza

Oregon State Fair, Part 2

Dear Liza,

After we had visited all the animal barns at the Oregon State Fair, we headed to the midway. The rides and junk food were delightful, but we were careful how we combined them.

Years ago, my equilibrium decided I shouldn’t ride the fast rides anymore, but I sure enjoy watching. Most of them are rides that have been around since I could, though. One vintage swing ride even bills itself as “A Michael Jackson Ride, from Neverland Ranch.” The paint job and simple construction are elegant and really take me back.

The one ride we got tickets for was the “Fair Lift”, benches on a high cable, like the sky ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. “See the fair from a chair!” Says the sign. “In the air, if you dare!” We added. It was not only a great view of the whole fairgrounds, low enough to smell the BBQ ribs and hear the music, but a chance to sit down for a full 30 minutes!

Down the fair from the midway was the one room Criterion School, which was in use until 1925. It was moved here from Maupin by the National Guard in 1976 as an example of a standard schoolhouse and is currently maintained and staffed by retired educators from all over the state.

I enjoyed talking with the ladies and seeing the old report cards and desks, but what really got my attention were the old books! I have been trying to find curriculum materials from 1903 to use in my story, and here they were! I took lots of pictures and notes…I will be cruising old book sites soon.

Tomorrow, quilts and things!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Oregon State Fair, Part 1

Dear Liza,

Portland is only about 45 minutes north of Salem, which is the capital city of Oregon. Yesterday we all drove down to see the State Fair. Since the weather has finally gotten a little cooler, it was a pleasant day.

First, of course, was the animals. The FFA and other livestock barns are the heart and soul of any state fair. We enjoyed seeing the sheep and goats get all spruced up, then dressed in little robes to keep them clean while they waited their turn to be shown.

Next door was the poultry, where Auntie Bridgett spent some time talking to the ducks and chickens. They actually seemed to be listening for a while, but were confused by her accent. She speaks California poultry, I guess.

The barns are not just big, they are historic. The poultry barn was build in 1921, the year my Momma was born, and the horse barn in 1919. Included in the poultry were pheasants, which I always think of as wild birds, but these seemed comfortable being in a pen and being admired by hundreds of strangers.

**Not just a building, an historic poultry building**

In the historic wooden horse arena we saw the “Showmanship” judging. This involved a few dozen horses standing, stopping, walking, and backing up. I admired the construction of the arena as well, all wooden trusses and bracing, and wondered how it would have sounded in 1919, when it was jam-packed with local horsemen showing off their prize animals. I confess, horse shows make me miss my dad, your great grandpa Lowell. At every fair I ever went to, he greeted every horse like an old friend.

Walking out of the cool barn we found the beginnings of the dog judging. One handsome fellow was being the practice dog, to make sure the timing mechanisms were working. He was having so much fun, he kept running through his paces backward and forward, having a ball!

By then, it was time to eat, so we went in search of healthy food! Just kidding. I had a baked potato with everything, Auntie Bridgett had a pulled pork sandwich, and Grandpa Nelson had a three course meal: Karmelkorn, a milk shake, and giant pretzel.

More tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A New Treat

Dear Liza,

**Quirky Decor in Farmhouse Kitchen Thai**

Yesterday, Portland broke a record, having more than 30 days above 90 degrees this summer. It has been so hot for so long! And today, the weather changed. Yesterday’s high temperature was 93. Today it is 73. Whew!

So Auntie Bridgett and I went for a walk. How nice to be able to walk and not dodge under trees for shade, or worry about if your destination is air conditioned. We wanted to try a new place for lunch, so we walked to Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine, down on Southeast Hawthorne.

This lovely, welcoming place is one of four branches of the same restaurant, the original being in San Francisco. It is located in an old farmhouse and uses the yard as a patio and the glassed-in porch for extra seating. We were greeted and seated and given a menu. Everything looked good, but nothing looked familiar… so we asked the manager about the food.

She explained that this is very traditional Thai food and some was very spicy. She steered us to milder dishes and we ordered Vegan Fresh Rolls for an appetizer.

We got ginger beer and ginger tea to put out any unexpected fire.

The Fresh Rolls arrived, looking like flowers in a pond. The rolls were rice paper, veggies and tofu, tasty, fresh and bright. The pond was a delicious chili/peanut sauce that we couldn’t stop eating. Seriously, we held on to the plate and enjoyed it the rest of the meal.

Our main dish to share was Kai Yang Chicken. The large plate held a half chicken, roasted with a spicy coating, a large bowl of noodles, salad and a quarter of cabbage, a bag of sticky rice, and two sauces; one sweet, one savory.

We were instructed not to worry about utensils, but to use our fingers to pull the chicken apart, peel a leaf off the cabbage, roll the chicken in it, dip it, and enjoy! Also, to dip the sticky rice in everything, including our sauce from the appetizer. We did use our fingers more than usual, but also the knife and chopsticks. Everything was so good!

The combination of moist chicken, sweet and spicy sauces and incredibly fresh veggies was so good, we ate long after we were full.

We chatted about the food and what we are working on. I started writing the new mystery version of my story this morning, and she is getting ready for her last day of training at The SideStreet Gallery, since she has become a full member! So exciting!

We finally had to stop eating and ask for a box, and we walked slowly home, feeling like happy pandas.

We walked past a house that has plums, apples and even sweet chestnuts growing in the front yard! We were marveling at the sheer amount of food growing in this tiny yard when the owner came out and we congratulated him on it. “Come by and get some in the Fall,” he said. “We always have more than we can use.”

Hooray!! We will, thanks so much!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Another Day with Serendipity

Dear Liza,

This past Sunday we had plans. Grandpa Nelson, Auntie Bridgett and I decided we would drive through the country to hike around Silver Falls State Park. We enjoyed the fields of wheat, hay bales, vineyards, and grazing llamas. We were amazed at how close all this country is to the BIG city of Portland!

At Silverton, we got off Highway 213 and started out to Silver Falls, but because of a confusion of which direction to go, we needed to make a U-turn. And that’s when we got waylaid by serendipity.

On a narrow street, we saw cars lined up in front of an old stone gateway. This is the entrance to Coolidge and McClaine Park, where the Silverton Fine Arts Festival was being held! After about 30 seconds discussion, it was agreed that we should investigate. Bridgett saw art, I saw local history, and Grandpa Nelson saw Karmelkorn! It was destiny.

Laid out along the shady paths of this hundred year old park were booths selling every kind of hand craft. Quilts, stained glass, paintings, metal sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, hand sewn backpacks and bags. There were some wonderful “burses”, which are purses made using recycled book covers as the sides. I wasn’t able to get a picture because of the crowd.

**Mosaic artist Christine Carlyle and helpers**

I wandered down toward the creek, following chalk arrows that said “mosaic fountain”. I found local mosaic artist Christine Carlyle and her band of volunteers, putting the finishing touches on a wonderful project, a refurbished wading pool. Eighty years ago, this shallow pool was created for the little kids to play in while the older ones swam in the creek, but it has fallen into disrepair.

Christine was hired by the city to create the design, which is a tribute to local beauty. The tiles were laid by more than 250 volunteers, each working on small sections. It should be done, they told me, in a few weeks. There will be the pool and a center column with a sprinkler, all lovingly created and tended to by the local folks.

**The fountain’s central column, showing Silver Falls**

We had brought a picnic, but there were crepes and paella, so we had those instead. The food was so good, spicy, and made by people who were happy to talk about how they do it. I may want to try some paella myself, when the weather cools a bit. There was also lovely wine and beer from Silver Falls Brewery.

We saw many lovely things, but only two came home with us: a tall ceramic vase featuring the Portland skyline made by Portland ceramicist Nicole Curcio, and a set of pot holders by quilter Linda Lu. Practical and beautiful, these things will remind us of this day for a long time.

When we were full of food and joy, loaded down with treasure and ready to drop, Grandpa Nelson drove us home. We all found places to nap until it was time for a light salad dinner and movies, a broadcast of Finding Nemo and my newly purchased copy of Sneakers. Then off to bed.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Three Hundred!!

Dear Liza,

I started writing this blog as a way to stay in touch with you and my friends in Salinas after I moved up to Portland. I thought I would write a little, get bored, and quit….like I usually do.

But Portland is such an interesting place that I keep finding things to write about. Today, as a matter of fact, is my 300th post. Three hundred adventures. Three hundred stories.

Portland is a big city, and has big city problems, like anywhere. The housing costs are high and homeless people struggle to get by. Trash and noise can be a nuisance. And if you are driving, there will eventually be traffic that frustrates you.

But there are also kind people and missions that help the homeless folks. Groups adopt neighborhoods to pick up trash. And transit is good enough that if you don’t want to drive, you don’t have to.

And the benefits of this lovely city are enormous. Art. Music. Parks. Art and music in parks! Food and drink and coffee and pastries.

And the reason I can enjoy all of this is because I am not working. Working, besides being…well, work, takes up an enormous amount of time. Days and days of NOT getting to walk at random and stop when you feel like it. Evenings of being so tired you can’t even think of an adventure.

Being at liberty is such a joy and privilege that sometimes I feel like I’m cheating.

But maybe if I share it with you I can share some of the joy, and feel less selfish.

**You never know who you’ll meet at Lone Fir Cemetery**

Love,

Grandma Judy

Soap Box Derby

Dear Liza,

I know I have told you that one of the things I like most about Portland is that the grown ups here like to be silly and have fun, just like kids. Today we went to see the Adult Soap Box Derby up on Mt. Tabor, where a lot of really smart people get together to design push cars…just for fun.

**Babe the Blue Ox of the Lagers (Loggers)**

Auntie Bridgett didn’t go, because she was not feeling well, but Grandpa Nelson and I drove up to Tabor Bread for breakfast. This is the bakery with the wood fired oven I told you about last week. Their quiche and rye doughnuts are just as yummy as their breakfast cookies!

We continued east and parked just at the base of Mt. Tabor. Thousands of people go to see the Derby, so parking is pretty tight. And of course, it’s all uphill to walk there. We followed the crowds up trails, cross country, and along roads, up and up.

At exactly 11:00, we heard the shouts as the first group of cars headed down the road. Each race has three cars in it, and they are timed. After a few races, the slower cars are eliminated, with races and eliminations continuing until there is a winner.

Some cars are built for speed, low to the ground with smooth turning wheels and careful engineering. The Tabor Accounting Group had the fastest car I saw, though I don’t know the final winner yet, and I didn’t get a picture because it was moving so fast!

Others are built just for fun, like the big rainbow slice of birthday cake and Wall-e. One, called The Rainmaker, had a water cannon and sprayed the squealing crowd as it went by!

The event was very typically Portland. Lots of kids, dogs, happy people, food and beer. The rules are few and even those are loosely enforced. Some people brought picnics and blankets, spread out on patches of dried grass (still no rain!) and got comfy. Others, like us, walked to the top to see a few starts and all the cars, then made their way down to the finish line, enjoying the mountain and the crowds, the scenery, and being outdoors.

It is fun to see what mechanically clever people can do when they decide to get together and have fun. I am sure many fine engineers and scientists may get their start designing a better, faster, slice of cake for the Derby.

Love,

Grandma Judy

On the Art of Grandma-ing

Dear Liza,

I have been a Grandma for almost 9 years now. Your cousin Jasper, then Kestrel, then you, have given me the chance to be this special person.

Kestrel comes home 096.jpg — **Kestrel and Jasper, 2011**

I know from being a mom and a teacher that Moms, rich or poor, with one kid or many, are always very near the end of their rope. The responsibility of managing small human beings, a job, a house, and a life is overwhelming.

I know, I was there. I have put the bleach jug in the fridge and the milk jug on top of the dryer. I have walked around the house looking for children’s shoes when the children were already wearing their shoes. I have cried my eyes out while matching tiny socks.

Somehow, Grandmas are able to take a step back. We are not the Momma. The dinner (usually) and laundry are other people’s job. Ours, for that moment, that afternoon, that week, is just to be there for that grandchild. To answer their questions, to tell stories, to show them new things and new ideas.

Jasper and I talk about science and ways to manipulate it. Kestrel and I look for fairies. You and I, Liza, go on adventures looking for history and stories.

Being a Grandma is a very special job, a sacred trust, and a lot of fun. Thank you.

Love,

Grandma Judy

An Afternoon with Kestrel

Dear Liza,

You are your Mom and Daddy’s only child, so you get a lot of alone time with them, and with me, when I’m around. Cousin Kestrel is Jasper’s little sister, and she doesn’t. Everything she does, including lunchtime at school, is with Jasper.

Jasper is a very nice brother, but we all need some time with our people when it is just US. Kestrel and I got that the other day.

Auntie Katie made plans for her and Jasper, and I made plans for us. After I ‘kidnapped’ her from Books with Pictures, we walked past the giant banana painted on the wall at SE 12th and Division, past a fairy house in some one’s yard, all the way to Hawthorne Street, where we caught the number 14 bus.

At 32nd Avenue we got off and walked to The Hazel Room. This is a lovely little lunch place in a big house, and I have walked past it dozens of times. They don’t sell hamburgers or french fries, so Grandma Nelson wouldn’t like it. Inside it is pretty and old-fashioned, with old wooden floors and wallpaper. There are lots of elegant tea pots on the window sills. Kestrel is a very picky eater, so I read the menu to her and let her choose. She asked for french toast. When it came, it was so big that we shared it, but she said it was the best french toast she had ever had! Fat and sweet, it most more like toasted cake..yummmy!

When we had played reading games and finished our lunch, we headed down Hawthorne to our main destination: Fernie Brae. This is a shop that sells fairie things. Handmade fairie dolls, beds, houses, jewelry, paintings, costumes, wings and wands…if a fairie could want it, they have it.

Everything is so beautifully made, we spent an hour in the small shop, looking at every tiny thing.

I knew we had just a little while until my bus pass expired, so Kestrel picked out a tiny dragonfly treasure, a jasper stone for Jasper and a rose quartz heart shaped stone for herself, and we caught the bus back to Ladd’s Addition. Walking through the shade of the old trees, we made up stories about which fairies lived under the trees and in the bushes.

What a wonderful, magical day!

Love,

Grandma Judy

More Mosaics

Dear Liza,

As I walk around Portland, I see more beautiful mosaics. Maybe because the materials can be recycled things like broken dishes and tiles, or even bits of machinery, mosaics are a popular medium for public art. Also, these materials are strong enough to last outside, winter and summer, even through Portland’s wet and dry cycles.

Some of them are group projects, like those outside the Buckman School or inside the Sunnyside School. These have an informal feeling and are very friendly. Looking at them, you can almost hear the kids and adults chatting and joking as they put the tiles in and get their hands goopy with grout.

Other mosaics are extremely complex and delicate, showing real artistry in their design and execution. These beautiful works of art, out for everyone to enjoy, need to be respected and protected.

I give major credit to many of the local businesses and organizations for sponsoring the artists of these wonderful works. They make Portland not just weird, as the bumper sticker says, but more handmade, more personal, and more beautiful.

Love,

Grandma Judy

**Recently repaired headstone at Lone Fir**

Return to the Children’s Museum

Dear Liza,

As I had promised, the cousins and I went back up the hill to Washington Park yesterday to visit the Children’s Museum. Since Grandpa Nelson had to work and I hate driving, we took the number 4 bus and Red Line MAX train to get there.

The Children’s Museum is less of a museum and more of a giant, well designed play environment for kids. There are rooms with set-ups for water play, a farm to table grocery room, a pet hospital, engineering, toy cars, and a theater with costumes, lights and puppets.

Jasper loves the water room and Kestrel, the theater, and the rooms are close enough together that I can sort of wander between them and keep and eye on both kids. Jasper actually came and found us in the theater, making me very proud of his responsibility and navigation skills.

After a few hours inside, we stepped out to the Zany Maze to eat the food I had brought. The Museum sells hot dogs and such, but I preferred a day with healthier snacks. Blueberries (from our Sauvie Island trip) and some of Grandpa Nelson’s peanuts and a big jug of water gave us energy for the afternoon.

Instead of going back inside the Museum, we explored the outside area, which has just been re-opened after a long period of development. It is wonderful!

The Outdoor Adventure, starts with The Spring, which has water play combined with sand, water management, buckets, and activities that encourage teamwork. Jasper and Kestrel played with several other kids, two of whom did not speak English at all, but they all understood and helped each other. It was wonderful to see.

We wandered down the trail past the creek, all the way down to The Amphitheater. There was a young lady helping the kids ‘fish’ in a small pool, and a mom teaching her little one about jumping rope. Jasper joined in and did 11 consecutive jumps! He was justifiably proud.

In our last 20 minutes, as energy was waning, we went back inside to see what The Treehouse Adventure room was. Turns out, it is designed for just the sort of activity we needed, a quiet winding down…. there is a tree house to go into and read, or just sit.

We got some going-home snacks, caught the Red Line train, then the Orange Line train, and were home by 3. We started reading Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville, and were on chapter 7 by the time Auntie Katie got home. It’s a great read!

Auntie Katie got home and Kestrel wanted some acrobatics time. Mother and daughter did some pretty nifty balance poses! These poses are ab workouts, mother-daughter time, and cooperation training, all at once. Real Ph.D level parenting, if you ask me.

Grandpa Nelson and Auntie Bridgett came a brought me home, and we had dinner. What a lovely day!

Love,

Grandma Judy