Dear Liza

New in the Neighborhood

Dear Liza,

As I’ve said many times, cities are always changing. In just the last month, one pub has opened, folded, and another one has opened in the same place. The Belmont Pub has become Char. The problem is, it doesn’t seem to be generating any more business than its predecessor. I wish it luck!

Meanwhile, up on Sandy at 26th, The Pie Spot has rebuilt after a kitchen fire closed it last fall. We went there the other day to celebrate National Pie Day! Auntie Bridgett had the brandy apple crumb, and I had the banana cream caramel. They were both delicious, and the personal pie size was just right. We felt satisfied, but not stuffed.

Grandpa Nelson, who does not care for pie, even found something he loved: Pie Crust Rolls! They are like cinnamon rolls, but made with a short pie crust dough instead of a yeast dough. Very tasty.

The people at the Pie Spot were very nice, and the music selection was mostly good ( there can be a stinker in every set, I suppose).

Also new in the neighborhood are these tiny purple crocus, coming up right by the sidewalk. They are about three inches tall and so soft they feel like cotton fabric.

I need to keep my eyes open around here!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A New Friend at Lone Fir

Dear Liza,

Yes, you remember correctly, Lone Fir is our local Pioneer Cemetery. It was first used in 1860 to bury Mr. Emmor Stevens on his family farm. It was used by just the family for a while, then Colburn Barrel bought the land to bury victims of a disaster in which his steamboat The Gazelle blew up, killing many people. Mr. Barrel felt so badly that he gave plots to bury the victims for free, including his friend and business partner, Crawford Dobbins.

And now there is a new friend, with a shiny, colorful headstone. Joel Weinstein was a local writer and publisher. He helped artists and authors thrive, publishing a magazine called Mississippi Mud. He published authors like Ursula K. LeGuin before they were famous, and promoted visual artists, as well. He was much appreciated by Portland.

When he got sick with lung cancer, he and his family moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it was warm and sunny so he could be more comfortable. He died there in 2008, but he was brought back to the city he loved, and buried in our Lone Fir Cemetery.

I love the color and whimsy of the decorations if his headstone. Playful skeletons, as in Day of the Dead art, seem to say that death is big, but spirit is bigger. Art is bigger. We don’t run from death, we acknowledge it and even play with it.

And because death will always win, we might as well enjoy the game.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Other Art at PAM

Dear Liza,

The PAM (Portland Art Museum) has lots of different kinds of art, ancient Native American and Canadian baskets and canoes as well as contemporary pieces. I must apologize for not knowing the names of all the pieces I refer to in this blog…it was getting on in the afternoon and I was running out of steam.

The Mark Building used to be a Masonic Temple, but has been incorporated into the museum by way of an underground tunnel. It will be more connected next year, when the above ground space between them is enclosed by a glass room. It houses the more contemporary art. This piece, called Two Figures and (Something Else) didn’t have much color, but the shapes and textures kept me staring a long time.

Auntie Bridgett stared a long time at this abstract sculpture called Don Quixote. The sweeping shapes did indeed remind her of our favorite knight errant on his horse.

One of the things I like about the modern gallery is the way the pieces can overlap from certain angles. I like these two pieces together better than I do apart!

Unknown piece viewed through Night Truck by Mark di Suvero

And the neon words of “Please Participate” on the wall look better as a part of the colorful blocks of this glass piece.

And, of course, a classic modern painting. I love it because it looks like I could piece it as a quilt… simple lines, good color, just a little wonky, with that white triangle in the corner.

As we were waiting for the bus, I noticed these lovely reflections in the darkening afternoon. Looking at art makes me see art in everything!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Save the Cat!

Dear Liza,

After enjoying Cousin Jasper’s school show at Abernethy School, Auntie Bridgett and I walked down to Powell’s on Hawthorne to hear Jessica Brody talk about her new book, “Save the Cat” Writes a Novel.”

Jessica is a very successful author of children’s and young adult novels and this new book is a How To guide to her method of developing plots and characters. I figured that I was ready to get some help with my story…it is good, but needs help here and there to be GOOD ENOUGH. Because after all the research and mapping I have done, if the story doesn’t have a character people care about, no one will read it!

“Save the Cat!” was originally a guide to screenwriting by Blake Snyder. It talks about “beats”, or plot points, that stories need to be satisfying to read and successful in the marketplace.

Some of these include a flawed hero (someone with problems who we follow and learn to care about), stating a theme (which we will see play out in the story) and a catalyst, (which forces the hero to actions that lead to their growth and redemption.)

Also in the book are analysis of other books, like Pride and Prejudice or The Kite Runner, pointing out the “beats” and how they apply to every genre. This will be helpful in my fictionalized history of Portland, I am sure.

Jessica spoke to a crowd of about 60 people at Powell’s, most of us writers or wannabes, looking for guidance. We were all happy with her clear, approachable advice and most of us bought her book. If I am typical, there will be 60 people in Portland today, flipping through “Save the Cat” and their own stories, figuring out what is wrong and how to fix it.

Wish us all luck!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Downtown Fun and Folks

Dear Liza,

Spring is coming, one step forward, one step back.

In the meantime, Wednesday was a cold and rainy day. So, naturally, I got Auntie Bridgett to go downtown with me.

The bus was crowded with folks headed off for rainy day fun. A neighbor and his son were off to play miniature golf in a basement somewhere. Other kids got off at the bowling alley on Belmont. We got off at 9th and Washington, and went into Woon Winkel for a while.

This is a cool shop we have passed many times. Woon is Dutch for ‘living’ and Winkle means ‘shop’. It is a housewares shop for dishes, coasters, coat hooks and such, all very modern nifty. But what caught my eye was this mosaic in the floor.

The lady explained that this building used to be an Owl Pharmacy, a chain here in Portland. I love it! I will be looking into this, you can be sure.

When we felt ready to go out into the rain, we headed up to the Portland Art Museum. On the way we noticed this:Portland Heritage Tree number 2! It is a huge Plane tree (sometimes called a sycamore) and is on the way from the bus stop to the museum…how have I missed it all these times?

The current show is called Modern American Realism, and it is very popular! I have never seen this many people in the museum. One of my reasons for coming was to have a quiet, inspirational space to think about my story….that wasn’t happening today. Once I got over that, I enjoyed myself.

The museum doesn’t let you take pictures in the featured galleries, but you may in the rest of the museum. We saw two really different types of art. Today I will tell you about the folks.

This fellow is a resin statue of a Dishwasher named Otto by Duane Hansen. It is so realistic that it creeped us out! Otto looked so tired, not just physically, but spiritually, as well.

Very close by Otto the Dishwasher was A Muse by Brancusi. It was not realistic, but smoothly serene and modern. It did not creep me out. But it didn’t capture much of the soul of the model, either.

One of my favorite paintings in this portrait called The Little Pastry Chef ( Le Petit Patissier ) by Chaim Soutine. It is so adorably cartoony that I just love looking at it. It was painted by Soutine, a poor Prussian Jew who left home in the 1920s to study art in Paris. He was successful, but when the Nazis invaded France, he hid in the woods and only returned after the war. He died soon after, but his works were saved.

In a different gallery is a very different piece, this larger than life bust of a man called Likunt Daniel Ailin by Kehinde Wiley. He looks so proud and also a little sad, like he would like to relax for a moment but is afraid of letting his guard down. I spent quite some time walking around and around him.

On our way back to the bus stop, we walked south a bit to pay our respects to Teddy Roosevelt. A statue of him, called The Rough Rider, by Alexander Proctor, stands between the Art Museum and the Historical Society.

Tomorrow I will tell you about some other weird and wonderful things at the Portland Art Museum.

Love, Grandma Judy

Another Abernethy Show

Dear Liza,

I had a busy night last week. It started off at Hosford- Abernethy School to see Cousin Jasper’s class show. I love the auditorium at these wonderful old schools, with their soaring ceilings and expansive walls that have lots of room for bright murals.

Jasper’s show was an retelling of the Frog and Toad stories that have been popular since before your daddy was born. Frog and Toad are friends and like each other very much, but don’t always agree. The show started with an argument between the two friends.

Frog feels badly about it, and asks some snails to deliver a letter to Toad. Cousin Jasper played the part of one of the snails, singing,

“We’re carrying a letter, a most important letter,

A letter Frog has written to Toad…

We’d love to stay and chat, stick around and chew the fat,

But for now we’ve really got to hit the road…”

Being snails, it takes them most of the show to get across the yard from Frog’s house to Toad’s. During this time, we see Frog and Toad having adventures together…sledding down a hill and going for walks.

In the end, Toad gets the letter and the two understand each other better. The show used songs borrowed from videos and other song writers. Bruno Mars’ “Count on Me” was a lovely last number, telling us that even when friends are different, they still care for each other.

It was wonderful seeing Jasper be so brave and clever on stage, along with all his third grade classmates. They acted their parts, sang nice and clearly, and got on and off the risers without hurting anyone. As a former third grade teacher, I know the amount of work and concentration this all took, and I am impressed.

After the show we walked with Kalman and Saul and their family over to Pastini, but I didn’t stay for dinner. I had a lecture to go to at the Powell’s Bookstore on Hawthorne! I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Taking a Chance

Dear Liza,

Since it is winter, Portland weather can be depended on to be cold and wet. But I have seen folks and plants lately that seem to be braving the elements.

The first folks were these roofers working on a lovely steep-roofed house on Stark Street. They have stripped off the old shingles, leaving only a bare framework of slats. Knowing they need to get the plywood, tar paper and shingles up before the weather changes must be a strong motivating factor.

Then there are plants which seem to be preparing for their best even while the radar is predicting the worst. The Daphne bush in out patio is getting ready to bloom.

In another yard in the neighborhood, this very low to the ground plant with big leaves is also defying the winter cold.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Small Shrine

Dear Liza,

On the way to the Sidestreet Arts Gallery, where Auntie Bridgett shows her art, there is a beautiful shrine to nature and art, which has been created and maintained by some lovely soul.

The shrine started out as a tree stump in the parkway on 29th Avenue. Maybe the person who maintains the shrine loved the tree before it was cut down and is remembering it, or maybe the stump was already a stump. However it happened, it is now a beautiful, growing piece of art.

The tree stump has been repurposed, while still embedded in the ground, as a home for a new cedar tree. Small flowers have been planted where the roots form cavities and crannies. The climate here has encouraged ferns and mosses and waters everything.

Small ceramic suns have been placed around the stump, letting us know for sure that this is no mere accident of nature.

I love that Portland is home to so many people who respect and care for nature, and who put their heart and soul into making their neighborhoods beautiful, interesting, and loved.

Love,

Grandma Judy

More Out and About

Dear Liza,

After we had seen the Chinatown Museum, Grandpa Nelson suggested we walk south and see what we could find out about Dr. Wo’s neighborhood on Alder and 3rd. We walked, looking around at the buildings. I took pictures as we went past old buildings so I could look them up later.

It turns out, there are quite a few buildings in this neighborhood that were standing in 1903. The Hamilton Building has beautiful clean lines and a modern look, but another (whose name I didn’t see) is very ornate and looks almost too pretty to be real.

The Bishop’s House from the Old Portland Cathedral is still standing, next door to where the Cathedral used to be. It was torn down and another cathedral rebuilt over on 19th Street, away from the danger of floods on the Willamette. But the Bishop’s House is still here.

We stood on the corner of SW 3rd and Alder, where Dr. Wo’s office stood in a small building. There is now a four story parking garage in its place. All the buildings at that intersection are modern and less interesting that I had hoped. I have to take a deep breath and chant “cities have to change or they die” a few times to come to peace with so much history coming down to make way for … cars.

Heading back to our car (yes, I know, I hate parking lots but I do sometimes use a car) we saw this old tiled entry in front of a deserted building. It means the building is probably from the 1890s, but there was no plaque to tell me.

It turns out Grandpa Nelson wanted some ice cream before we headed home, and there is a branch of Salt And Straw, a fabulous ice cream shop, in the Pine Street Market. It is called The Whiz Bang Bar and was delicious…chocolate shake for Grandpa Nelson, a vanilla custard swirl for me.

As we got into the car to head home, I noticed that we were parked behind the Kells Bar, which is famous for being “haunted”. But what I loved was the silly sign on the back, to make sure you didn’t forget where the bar was.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Crows

Dear Liza,

It has been bright, sunny and COLD the last few days. I have had fun taking pictures of the flowers that are thriving in the cold, and some noisy crows, as well.

Crows do really well in Portland. They drink out of the bubblers downtown and enjoy over ripe fruits and leftover take-out food here in the neighborhood.

They have something to say (I’m still not sure what) to everyone who passes by, including dogs on leashes and cats on porches. I reply and try to understand, but they don’t seem particularly motivated.

So I let it go.

Love,

Grandma Judy