Last week, Governor Kate Brown invoked the Conflagration Act because of all the forest fires burning in Oregon. This impressively named law means that state resources can be used to fight local fires, and it makes sense. A fire that starts in one county burns straight through to the next, and there is no time to gather local forces.
Portland isn’t in any danger, though we suffered a bit from the drifting smoke, as well as the heat and dry air that has helped the fires grow. Our sunshine was an apocalyptic orange and folks with lung problems stayed inside.
I have grown up with a complicated relationship with fire.
Going camping as a child, I learned to lay a fire in a stove or fire ring and nurture it until it caught. I learned to make sure it was out by pouring on water and stirring the ashes. I have loved being able to create heat and light. It is a very primal skill.
I enjoyed it when, one winter in Salinas, our electricity went out and we had to depend on our fireplace for heat, even using it to make tea.
On a more creative note, Hale Pele, our favorite Tiki Bar in Portland, uses fire and cinnamon to delightful effects in making cocktails. And, of course, Hanukah candles warm our hearts in the dead of winter.
But fire has also given me some nasty burns when an old gas oven flared up, or when I fell over backwards into a bonfire.
Let’s say I love fire enough to run towards it, but am cautious enough to stop before I get too close. Not a bad lesson for most kinds of relationships. Closeness, but boundaries. Appreciation, but care.
Yesterday was Sunday. It was also Auntie Bridgett’s birthday, and we spent the whole day doing Auntie Bridgett’s favorite things.
Sunflowers on Bridgett’s Birthday!
First, we had a small breakfast to get ready for a busy day. Then we opened presents! She got some fancy silverware from her Aunt Chris and Uncle Ken, and Grandpa Nelson and I got her a badminton set! We have such a nice big park, we should have games to play in it. More about that later.
Passing Belmont Street, we noticed that the old murals I had taken pictures of are being painted over and new murals painted in. Here are the beginnings of the new ones.
New murals on Belmont
The Tov Bus
Then we walked through the neighborhood to 32nd Avenue and Hawthorne Street. Awhile back we had seen a red double-decker bus (like they use in London) being used as a coffee shop! It is called Tov Coffee (Tov means ‘good’ in Hebrew), and Bridgett wanted to see inside.
Inside the bus
Needless to say, the inside is TINY. It is a bus, after all, and also needs room for coffee making machines and dishes and fellows behind the counter. But it was pretty…walls and ceilings painted a nice purple, finely carved wooden everythings, and photos of Egypt. We ordered our coffees and went up the narrow twisty stairs to the top of the bus. A nice roof has been made of pvc pipe and heavy plastic, which keeps out the sun on bright days and the rain on not-so-bright ones. When our coffees were delivered we enjoyed the view of the street and people-watching.
Chai, Egyptian Coffee and just Coffee
Our weather is getting cooler, feeling very much like fall. Trees are starting to change colors and leaves are crunching underfoot. We walked to a pop-up restaurant called hunnymilk. A pop-up is when a group of cooks and waiters who don’t have a restaurant borrow a restaurant and serve their own food. In this case, hunnymilk, which makes fabulous brunch, borrowed the space and kitchen of La Buca, an Italian restaurant. We had the best biscuits and butter ever, fried french toast, roast potatoes, and pork ribs with garlicky cheese grits. OH MY, was it good. We ate until we were happily stuffed.
Brunch at hunnymilk
But we still couldn’t finish it all! We will have a day or two of delicious leftovers.
Five boxes of leftovers!
Setting drinks on fire
After we rested and digested for a while, we took the badminton set to the park, set it up, and started playing. We were delightfully awful…years of no practice had us running and flailing like windmills. But it was fun, so we kept it up. And by the time we were too tired to move, we had gotten much better. We staggered home for more rest before our final destination of the day. I didn’t get a single picture of the game! We were having so much fun, I forgot!
We got a Lyft ride to Hale Pele (say hall-ay pay-lay) Tiki Bar! This is a tiny place with all sorts of colored lights, tikis and blowfish, skulls and tapa cloth lamps. They serve food, (but we were still stuffed from brunch), and delicious tropical drinks, some of which get set on fire. It was fun to watch the lights change, and watch the bartender mix the drinks, and then drink the drinks….
When we had all we could hold, we called Lyft again and got a ride home, and wished Auntie Bridgett a final Happy Birthday!
Dear Liza 