So here I am, in the big city, still wondering how it got to be this way. Who would have thunk it? The attributes of Portlandia have become its downfalls: Good weather, an established bus commuter service, room for growth.

To see it then and to see it now is to see it differently. El has lived here for some time, so she doesn’t see change the way I do. It’s like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat.

Today we went hiking at MacLay Park. The park, which consists of several lengthy walking trails over varied terrain, was designed by the Olmstead Brothers. I think that Daddy Olmstead designed Central Park in New York.

Sally

The trail path was well worn and used by two user groups: hikers and runners. Multiple user group trails never, ever work, and this again became evident to me today. El did ask me how come hikers have to yield to runners? This is a good question.

For example, one young woman, coming up behind us yelled “left” and barreled past. I got out of her way just in time – I’m slow with left and right commands. I jumped to the correct side, and nearly found myself going over a drop off.

After, El and I went shopping at what must be the largest Fred Meyers grocery store in the chain. It was huge. Fred Meyer, he originally envisioned medium sized grocery stores with quality food items. I don’t think he envisioned gargantuan stores with a mind numbing number of choices for every grocery item on the planet.

I don’t like big grocery stores. In order to survive this experience, I inwardly surrendered. I said to myself, “I don’t know or have to know where what we are shopping for is. I will just follow Eleanor and keep her in sight.”

Entering this place was like going into a time warp, one which for me spanned 20 years. For example, I thought that we would, once we got our items, go to a checkout stand, one with a real human being, and have her or him scan the items.

Instead, El scanned her items on a machine that talked to her. The voice was friendly enough, but it seemed to me that the directives were complicated. We ended up forgetting El’s much loved canvas bag in a shopping cart. I must have placed it in the wrong one. We did not go back for it. I suspect that if it was a smaller store, that we would have.

El is the consummate host, going out of her way to find good hikes and cooking incredible meals. And so, while I am most appreciative, I do find myself at times feeling homesick.

Shit, even the dogs in this town seem really unhappy, El’s dog Sally being an exception. She motors right along and goes out of her way to avoid the bigger dogs. If our respective dogs changed places, they’d all have a hard time.

Next: 310. 11/11/23: Wind and Rain