Today is the first day of summer & I am going to have a druid/pagan/hedonist ritual of some sort, probably making an offering in the garden. Summer is my favorite time of year & the period from May-October is very special in Portland. We are blessed with what I find to be the best summer days of any place I have lived or traveled. We enjoy beautiful, warm (80s), low humidity weather. We are 1/2 hour to two extraordinary, scenic nude gay beaches- one in the amazing Columbia River Gorge & one on bucolic Sauvie Island. Portland is less than hour to ocean beaches, high desert, & snow capped mountains (we are in lava spitting distance of 3 active volcanoes). Portland has a multitude of outdoor festivals & concerts in the summer season.
Today is Sunday Parkways in my neighborhood in North Portland - Kenton. North Portland (NoPo) is a peninsula with the Willamette River on one side & the might Columbia River on the other. Where the two rivers meet is the northern most point of Portland. We have had eagle & red hawk sightings in our garden. Our house is within blocks of the Columbia Slough where you can spot beavers, otters, salmon & osprey. The Sunday Parkways are 7-8 mile "temporary parks" along city streets connecting neighborhoods and residents in North, Northeast & Southeast Portland....a relaxed, non-competitive, FREE event featuring a variety of activities in several parks & along the routes. Intersections are staffed by volunteers allowing residents to get to & from their driveways, with larger streets supervised by Portland Police Bureau staff & certified flaggers. Sunday Parkways gives Portlanders a chance to get out & be active right in their own neighborhood. Participants walk, bike, roll, run, stroll, & rollerblade along the route to activities in the parks as well as to nearby shops & businesses in the vicinity. My immediate streets are blocked to auto traffic & the company I work for is one of the food vendors in the park closest to my house (I live in easy walking distance of 4 beautiful parks). The canines & I are going to participate with a long walk (the Husband is working today on a MAJOR design project that I will do a post on later). The canines are thrilled to meet people, other dogs & find bits of fallen food. A civilized start to summer, a season I don't like to be behave in too civilized a manner. Summer to me is going to the beach & being naked, reading, enjoying the garden, cocktails in the Boys' Fort, staying up late & a big dose of "getting down". Happy Solstice to all of you who may read this!
Today is Sunday Parkways in my neighborhood in North Portland - Kenton. North Portland (NoPo) is a peninsula with the Willamette River on one side & the might Columbia River on the other. Where the two rivers meet is the northern most point of Portland. We have had eagle & red hawk sightings in our garden. Our house is within blocks of the Columbia Slough where you can spot beavers, otters, salmon & osprey. The Sunday Parkways are 7-8 mile "temporary parks" along city streets connecting neighborhoods and residents in North, Northeast & Southeast Portland....a relaxed, non-competitive, FREE event featuring a variety of activities in several parks & along the routes. Intersections are staffed by volunteers allowing residents to get to & from their driveways, with larger streets supervised by Portland Police Bureau staff & certified flaggers. Sunday Parkways gives Portlanders a chance to get out & be active right in their own neighborhood. Participants walk, bike, roll, run, stroll, & rollerblade along the route to activities in the parks as well as to nearby shops & businesses in the vicinity. My immediate streets are blocked to auto traffic & the company I work for is one of the food vendors in the park closest to my house (I live in easy walking distance of 4 beautiful parks). The canines & I are going to participate with a long walk (the Husband is working today on a MAJOR design project that I will do a post on later). The canines are thrilled to meet people, other dogs & find bits of fallen food. A civilized start to summer, a season I don't like to be behave in too civilized a manner. Summer to me is going to the beach & being naked, reading, enjoying the garden, cocktails in the Boys' Fort, staying up late & a big dose of "getting down". Happy Solstice to all of you who may read this!
