Tag: Portland

Matt’s Birthday: Heat and Spanakopita

We are in for some craziness the next few days. Even in the very hot summers of my Boise years, the temperature never got very far above 105 degrees. But Matt’s birthday forecast is 107 and the two days after are in temperature ranges I’ve never seen, ever.

Matt wanted spanakopita for his birthday celebration and so I got the recipe from my Aunt Pat.

Here is my spinach.

And here is the finished product. It wasn’t a winner. There was way too much moisture coming off of the pieces.

The diagnosis: don’t cook it in a 9×13 inch pan with sides (what I think of as a 9×13 inch pan) but use a flat cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. My aunt uses a nice round sheet.

Getting in Line for Vaccination

By double teaming on separate computers, Matt and I got appointments for both my mom and my Aunt Pat at the drive-through vaccination clinic at the airport. My Aunt Carol was willing to go to the main clinic at the Convention Center, so we secured her appointment last week, thus giving us the skills to grab the coveted drive-through clinic slots.

It was very easy to find the clinic at the Red Lot at the Portland airport, and we were guided into place by many people in reflective vests waving batons. There were five lines with maybe 30-60 cards in each line. This photo was taken at 2:41, though I think we got there at 2:00 . Once there, we sat. And sat.

After quite a while with nothing happening one line at a time was moved forward. This was taken at 3:36 and we haven’t yet made it into the tent to check in.

From the check-in tent, we were guided on a very long U-shaped track that inched forward. The check-in tent is in the back left of the photo and this photo was taken at 3:47, so you can see how the line was moving.

We’ve made it to the tent where the shot would be given! Time stamp: 4:09

And now we’re done with shots. Time stamp, 4:16 p.m.

It was nice to have two out of three people in the car vaccinated.

Then we were directed over to a new line where we sat for 10 minutes. Neither patient had any reactions, so off we drove.

I drove them both home and my mom sent me off with some macaroni and cheese balls with meatballs in the middle. Delicious!

We later learned that this was an unusual day and the worst day for wait times. So we had not-great timing in that realm. But it was good to get two shots in arms.

Our Smoky September

This picture was taken at 8:09 a.m. But it could have been taken at any time on this day because thanks to the smoke covering most of Oregon, this is what daylight looks like all day long.

Our air quality is so bad it broke the scale, the sun hasn’t been visible for days and even my hearty lungs were screaming for fresh air.

Big fires lead to big smoke and this is yet another of the many ways climate change is affecting us all.

Helping Out at a Protest

My friend T is a powerhouse in all ways, and this summer she has been leading family-friendly protests with a few other people. I went down to help out.

This memorial, that honors 216 Black lives taken by racial violence, was powerful.

So many names. Ones I am familiar with, ones I am not.

This person was taking pictures of the protesters. He said he had come to Portland from Minneapolis to capture the protests. Unlike me, he probably doesn’t have many pictures where his lens cover interferes with the image.

And there’s T, being the leader she was born to be.

Crane Coming Down

Would you like to make dozens of people look up? Even while walking? If so, install, and then disassemble, a crane. Not only was I looking up while walking past this, so was everyone else I encountered.

Also, look at this! The wheels aren’t even on the ground! They are being held up by these hydraulic lifts that extend from the crane dissembler thing.

Also. This isn’t a fast process. When I walked by at before eight a.m. they had started and when I left at 4:30 they were still going.

Note from the future. When the quarantine happened in March, the street had still not been reopened. It was close, but hadn’t happened yet.

End of the bus station

The Greyhound Station, a block-sized center of transport, has closed. No more will buses pick people up for parts unknown from inside a building. Instead, it will pick people up from a street.

There is a great undulating wall on this side of the station. I hope it will be preserved through the next development, but I’m guessing my hopes will be in vain.

This PO Will Go

The main post office has been a part of my life since 2006, when I started working at The Emerson School. It takes up a huge swath of land at the northern edge of the Park Blocks, and it sprawls with an assured sense that the postal mail will always be an important part of daily life.

Alas, this is not the case. The mail processing facility has moved out to the airport for better access to the planes and shipping channels. (Though worse access for most employees, probably). And now this entire segment will be redeveloped into some magical bit of mixed-use Portland.

Here’s the view from Northwest Johnson street, where you can see the train station popping up over the mid-century design.

Later, there will be more photos of the front, but you can see where the mail trucks use to pull out for places near and far.

It was once big enough to have an in-house cafe!