Portland (Oregon) (PDX)
My new temporary address: 624 NW 22nd Apt B Portland OR
97206. My telephone remains 615 491 6578 and email is alexlynetta@gmail.
I lived in my previous house since December, 1993. I met a lot of people from many walks of life and often would run into someone I knew when I was out and about. It has been interesting to know no one at all besides Kirk, his friend Vanessa, and now a few of Kirk's friends I met at Thanksgiving. I was struck by this when we went on Halloween to a party for volunteers at the Hollywood Theater.
This city reminds me of my Nashville roots, but, as son Kirk promised, there is a lot to love here.
I could get lost in a paper bag. Having grown up in the "turn at the gnarled tree" tradition or using the Sears on Lafayette as a landmark when it hasn't been there for decades has not been good practice. This city is laid out well, but I have been overwhelmed by the city as a whole. We are living in the North West "Alphabet district" in which the streets are indeed alphabetical. We are between Hoyt and Irving on 22nd street. (The public library is on Thurman.) This is primarily a residential street while 23rd bustles with shops. I have been told the zoning will not allow the "Big Box" stores here but encourages the "mom and pop." The Targets and Ikea are in a separate area. There are, however, large groceries, other goods and services.
The house we are in is divided into three levels, basement, top, and middle. We're middle. There are three apartments. In the front are a couple who work at a Peruvian restaurant. Kirk is in the center apartment. The back one was inhabited by someone who promised to be out by November 1. Wouldn'tyaknow, that date came and went.
The three apartments are on one side of the house and are heated by individual heaters. The other side is a spacious living room, kitchen/dining table. Until Sandra moved out I was sleeping in a chilly living room on a loveseat that was short for even me... She moved out Nov. 17. By this time I was pretty cranky.
The moving van people have the majority of my stuff in storage, but I have clothes, art and "stuff." This was also strewn about in the living room.
Having this experience makes me thankful for my one room. I also must say we are out enough and I'm good enough at entertaining myself that it doesn't matter that it is only one room....but
Kirk's friend Kyle introduced us to our real estate person, Carol Hushman. Kyle hosted Thanksgiving dinner and I was glad we had inherited Carol. His house has a picture window and faces a large hill. The view will be lovely much of the year. Anyway, we have gone to see a number of houses, but the right one hasn't appeared. _I_ loved one in Milwauke. There was a huge calla lily stand taller than I am. Carol is an excellent tour guide, so I've been to several communities, too.
Other Portland notes:
Streets here are busy with both cars and walkers. Since this building is divided up into layers the small driveway is inadequate. When there is a parking space here Kirk may have to go move his car to let someone in front of him out. And since parking is at such a premium I am petrified to back out and not be able to see what is coming down the street...but that was true in Nashville.
There are pedestrians all the time, so it seems to be thought of as safe.
LEAVES are picked up by the City of Portland. They have a sandwich-board type wooden sign but it doesn't have a date. The many leaves are a mushy mess.
Also, RECYCLING, as we all know is dear to my heart. Here the garbage comes every other Tuesdays but recycling is picked up every week! Glass bottles are put out in a small bin not unlike the basket that holds a few items in the grocery. They also provide a large garbage sized bin for leaves! I was told that will hold compost..that a turkey carcass may be put in there.
DOGS! Dogs here tend to have stylish cloth coats. Dogs are often seen airing out their people. The space between sidewalks and houses isn't much. It is good that there is a lot of rain to help with the odor. People clean up after their dogs, which is fabulous. The variety of dogs is amazing, too!
EATERIES..GOLLEE!! There is all sorts of food available. And coffee and bars...another post about that.
Houses here resemble those old jewels I'm familiar with. There are stunning huge houses.
PLANTS Moss anyone? It is on all sorts of rocks and seems universal. In walking about I see a lot of familiar plants like the ferns, irises, STUNNING Japanese maples. At the Thanksgiving meal I met a gardener who said that if you put a plant in the ground it
will grow.
So here are some things in my life. I miss seeing people and catching up on their stories. Kirk is a movieholic and I'm listing things we've been watching. More to come!