When I lived in Portland in the early 1980s, it was a large town. I, like many others, got around by bicycle. I remember one day, working at the Chinese Cultural Center, at noon, I got on my bicycle and rode clear across town to the Bike Gallery, where I purchased what I thought was a much-needed bicycle part.

I commuted from home to work by bicycle. And when I had time off, I rode my bicycle. My friends, many of whom worked at the Portland Bicycle Collective, did the same. Rain or shine, we were out there.

On Strike

At the time there were just a handful of skyscrapers and a handful of high risers. Indeed, Portland was a fine place to live. Who would have thunk it that this large town would become a small city?

I often wondered why I didn’t stay put. I did aspire to work for a newspaper or magazine, as a feature writer. I didn’t want to freelance; I wanted a job with a steady income and some notoriety. I did publish a few articles, which I wrote on an older Olivetti typewriter. I got this typewriter in high school and actually wrote some drafts of my MFA thesis on it.

I remember sort of auditing a class on Theodore Roethke while working at the Chinese Cultural Center. I remember writing a final paper, not for a grade – and the teacher I don’t think even read it.

Enough trapsing down Memory Lane. To return is to now see a city scape, tall buildings mar the skyline. This supports my theory that when places become overpopulated, people begin living on top of, and to the sides of one another.

There are here so many homeless people. Most seem to live in tents that are covered with blue tarps. These tents are surrounded by junk. Eleanor told me that many who live this way are bicycle thieves. Those who don’t have bicycles have shopping carts.

I saw a few by the side of the road broken down vehicles and vans, which had junk spilling out of them. I guess their owners sleep in the vehicles.

The schoolteachers here are on strike. El and I joined a picket line for a short while. As we walked, I thought about some of the stories that Eleanor and Tammy told me about their teaching days. Apparently, things are not that much better these days. Now, like before, there are too few substitutes, so sometimes teachers have to teach two classes at a time.

To me, the lack of interest in funding educators and their schools is a sign of the decline of civilization. If you lack an educated citizenry, you lack people with the ability to make informed decisions when it comes time to vote.

We did go on a nature walk, to Oaks Bottom and did some serious birdwatching. Across the way was a mortuary/mausoleum with birds on the blue walls. Still creepy.

Once again, the self-refrain is, “too many people here.” We are beyond the point of no return. We have lost sight of the future in our zeal to reproduce.

Next: 309. 11/10/23: Bright Lights, Big City