Dear Liza

Should Old Acquaintance…

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

On Saturday, I woke up to seagulls’ squawks and remembered I was in Monterey. The sun was up, and The Monterey Hotel looked very pretty in the morning light.

I had what the Hobbits call First Breakfast at Red’s doughnuts. This shop has been here for 76 years, and dear Evelyn has been serving goodies and pouring coffee for 26 of them! She is a sweet soul who always finds the good in people.

After a delightful custard filled maple bar and conversation, I wandered around a bit, listening as Garbage trucks, motorcycles, and gathering groups of tourists joined the seagulls in their racket.

I wandered to Rosine’s on Alvarado to meet my dear friend Donald. We met in French class in 2008 and have been teasing and encouraging each other ever since. We chatted about our current reading selections; Goethe for him, Charlotte Bronte for me.

Grandpa Nelson had his own turn at Red’s, then we headed to Salinas to see more friends. Fellow retired teacher Pat and her son John were lively company, as usual.

George and Mimi gave us a yummy tomato gallette and mimosas for brunch.

We stopped by Downtown Books to wish Trish Sullivan a happy birthday, and picked up a copy of The Hobbit for Cousin Liza.

Needless to say, after all this visiting, we needed a rest! We crashed at Uncle David’s place to recharge our social batteries.

Our final step was the Hughes’ household, where we enjoyed cake and both Japanese and French wines. A tour of Rick’s homemade tea house, complete with altar and incense, and a game of catch between Cousin Liza and Kevin, made for a lively evening.

When we were just at the end of our conversation, we hugged everyone goodbye and headed back to the hotel. The road between Salinas and Monterey is pretty, even at night… dark silhouettes of oaks against the soft grey overcast.

More about our adventure tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Heading South

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

I usually write this blog to your cousin Liza, but I was with her this weekend, so I will tell you two all about it.

It was your Uncle David’s birthday, so Grandpa Nelson and I took a plane (for the first time in three years!) down to Monterey to help him celebrate. In these Covid times, it was a little scary getting into an enclosed space with so many strangers. But everyone kept their masks on, and the plane wasn’t even very full.

We had a lovely lunch at the Crazy Horse Golf and Country Club.

This very pretty place is owned by Uncle David’s boss Don Chapin and is a perfect place to eat, play with Grandpa Nelson’s hat, or to show how far you can jump.

We drove into town and spent the rest of the day playing catch, eating yummy cheese and crackers, and catching up on family stories with Uncle David and Auntie Olga. This is the sort of dinner visit we used to have every Wednesday evening, and I have missed them!

When the evening was over, we borrowed Uncle David’s car and drove to the Monterey Hotel on Alvarado Street. This place is over a hundred years old! For this evening, however, that didn’t matter. We had flown, driven, eaten and drank all we could, and it was time to sleep.

Whew! That was Friday, and a mighty full day it was. I will tell you about Saturday tomorrow!!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Seen on the Sidewalks

Dear Liza,

Portland is a big city, which I sometimes forget here in our little neighborhood. There about 650,000 people just in the city, and lots more in the surrounding area.

And as a big city, we see all sorts of odd, unexplainable things. Here are some of them.

…A sparkly mask outside the Electric Castle’s Wunderland, which is very popular for kids’ birthday parties.

A cartoon of a grumpy Dennis the Menace calling someone a “Nerd”.

And a sign showing that the city is making sure the local squirrels are safe.
Have a good weekend! See you soon!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Following Along

Dear Liza,

Since I have been learning about following where the art leads, I decided to do an experiment. Last week while I was playing with some orange acrylic, I had a big smear of paint left over on the tray. Rather than wash it away, I brushed some on to a textured meat tray and laid down a layer on an empty page.

I had no idea what it would be. I just put it down and went on to other things. The next day I looked, turned the pages in different directions, and looked some more. I saw this slight diagonal line where the two printings overlapped, and it reminded me of the brim of a smartly-worn top hat. So I took my nice fat micron pen and drew in a hat, then a face, and some hair. She reminded me a little of Josephine Baker.

I didn’t know what would come next. I made some more cookies, did a bunch of laundry, and went for a few walks around the neighborhood. I looked at the picture before I went to bed that night, and in the morning I knew how I wanted to go forward.

Collage of circles seemed a fine way to progress, but I wanted to be more precise this time, trimming the bits to fit. The top part of the hat, filled in with the patterns from inside security envelopes, took an hour, but I was happy with it.

I walked away, came back, and did the brim all in one piece, and then the hair, with the swirly pattern found on the inside of Yogi tea boxes. It is soft but curvy and just what I wanted.

I was just about done for the day. Dinner was calling. But from my collection box of papers shone a piece of foil that the Pittman and Davis Company uses to wrap their pears. Et voila. Hat done.

I let the piece sit for a few days, not sure what I wanted it to look like. I knew it should have a deep blue background, both to set off the orange and gold, and to look like night time. Straight blue acrylic paint out of the tube was exactly right. I put in just a bit of blue shading on the hat, and I am pretty happy with it.

It is weird, but that’s just about right. It just shows that you never know where the art will lead.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Back to the Belmont Library

Dear Liza,

The libraries are open again! One of the many reasons we bought this house was its proximity to the lovely, tiny, Belmont Library. Built in 1924, this building is way to small to serve the current neighborhood, but I love it anyway. And I have missed it.

So, looking for a mystery to read and learn more about how to write a mystery, I headed off. Masks are required and folks were polite about keeping their distance.

Since this library has limited shelf space, if I want a particular book, I go online and ask that it be sent over from one of the larger libraries. But for this trip, I was willing to take potluck.

And while I hunted, I got to enjoy being in a building full of people who love books. Very nice.

I ended up borrowing three books: an English classic that I have never read, a collection of new short stories, and a murder mystery. I feel like I’m off for an adventure!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Hawthorne Street Fair!

Dear Liza,

Street Fairs are back and not without a sense of Portland irony.

We have had two deadly heat waves this summer, so of course it rained on the day of the Hawthorne Street Fair.

Not wanting to find the place overcrowded in these Delta-variant times, we walked down early. In fact, some vendors weren’t even set up yet. But we wore our masks (as did a lot of folks) and got some books and yarn from Backstory Books’ sidewalk sale. We stepped into the Gold Leaf & Alter art gallery and got to see their offerings while visiting with jeweler Judy Goldblatt.

There were groups making music….

As the rain came (sometimes in buckets!) and went, we walked the street, talked with folks, and remembered the many reasons we love Portland.

A delicious “Ethiopian taco” (actually injera, a flatbread, served with a spicy chicken curry) from “Spice of Africa” was our lunch. We ate it under the shelter of an out of service bus stop during the heaviest of the rain.

Grandpa Nelson was the first customer of the day for Two Wahine’s Shave Ice. We signed political petitions and talked with folks about their dogs.

Even the Multnomah County Health Services got into the act, giving vaccinations right across the street from the Bread and Ink Cafe.

We were back home, changing out of wet socks, before the crowds kicked in.
It was a wonderful, perfectly Portland day.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Nothing but Flowers

Dear Liza,

The neighborhood has gotten so pretty! It has been hot, and if people water enough, their flowers are just going nuts.

There are about a zillion varieties of dahlias, and they are all beautiful. Some of them grow taller than my head, and others are little guys about six inches tall. They all grow from potato-like rhizomes and I think I’ll put some in my garden next year.

Cone flowers are another plant that can be stunningly tall and showy. They have really prickly centers and petals that flop like skirts.

AND when you have coneflowers, dahlias, and sculpture all together in front of a delightful old house, it’s even better!

Love,

Grandma Judy

P.S. Peonies….

Fall is Whispering

Dear Liza,

And just as summer is kicking into high gear, fall is getting in line. The change in seasons is told in all the gardens in the neighborhood.

Lantern flowers glowing in the afternoon sun

The oranges and reds of autumn are some of my favorite colors, especially when they are backlit by afternoon sun. They make me happy for the summer’s glory, and for the coming of the cozy holiday season.

The larger than life leaves of my pumpkin plant seem to be fading. They are getting age spots and some even are getting yellow.

Linus the pumpkin is getting all grown up!

And Linus, my own Great Pumpkin, is getting more orange and hefty by the day. His stem still shows no signs of giving way and he seems quite content to ripen right where he is.
Love,

Grandma Judy

Willie the Dawn Redwood Update

Dear Liza,

One of the many things I love about our Laurelhurst Park is that it is always changing. Old trees die or are damaged in storms and need to be replaced, so we get to meet the new babies.

Bridgett, Grandpa Nelson, and Willie, Summer of 2018

Just after we moved up to Portland, this young Dawn Redwood was planted near the dog off leash area. We named it Willie, after my Mom.

Every time we walked through the park, we would check on Willie. That first autumn we were very worried. Willie’s thin, soft needles began to dry up and fall off! We looked up Dawn Redwoods and discovered that (whew) they are deciduous. That means they lose their leaves in winter. Willie wasn’t sick, she was just hibernating!

After a long nap, Willie woke up in the spring and looked fabulous! She was a good foot taller. She apparently liked where she was.

And she continues to thrive. This summer she is three years old and growing like a weed. In ten years or so, she may take on the look of her elders, which look sort of like the scary apple trees from “The Wizard of Oz”.

I love watching things grow.

Love,

Grandma Judy