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This time of year it's rare to have a bright, sunny day in Portland, Oregon. This is the rainy, overcast season in Portland. Actually, most of the year is the rainy, overcast season in Portland, but winter especially is.
   But when I arrived in Portland last Thursday I was welcomed with a sunny day, one of the benefits of which in Portland is a clear view of Mount Hood off on the horizon.
 My sister Romaine,  ...a few days visit with whom was the purpose of my trip to Portland, always says that Mount Hood moves around. You'll see it on your left while you're driving, then it will disappear, then it'll pop up later on your right, or behind you, or maybe off in the distance ahead of you. Kind of like a magic mountain. As infrequent in Portland as is a bright sunny day in winter, a prolonged cold spell with temperatures well below freezing is just as irregular. Portland at its normal coldest tends to hover around freezing with a few colder days popping up a time or two throughout the winter. The day I arrived in Portland I got to experience a double Portland rarity: a sub-freezing cold sunny winter day. Not that it was all that cold in Portland by Columbus January standards. In Columbus, Ohio it's been in the teens for the past week. When I arrived in Portland the temperature was in the high 20's. But then I wasn't arriving from Columbus; I was arriving from Los Angeles, where I'd just spent the last ten days enjoying picnic-in-the-park weather.
...so that when I stepped out into that cold though sunny Portland air, if felt cold! Which it was, by Portland standards. But the cold weather didn't keep us inside. At least not until the sun turned to rain and the rain turned to ice and I missed my plane and as I write this I'm still here in Portland, already a day late getting back to Columbus, though I hope to be able to catch a plane by tomorrow. But that's tomorrow's story.
 ...one of Romaine's friends popped over to say "Hi", and as it was close to dinner time we all decided to go out together for some Mexican, to a nice little neighborhood place called Sandoval,  ...where the food is muy tasty,   ...and so, they tell me, are the margaritas.  The next day, Friday, we went downtown for brunch at Mother's, a cute, popular Portland eatery.    Mother's serves up a nice breakfast. Especially good are the fried potatoes.   After brunch we decided to catch a matinee at a nearby theater. As we had about an hour to kill before our movie, we opted to walk around downtown for a bit.   After about five minutes I felt as if my tuches were about to freeze. Fortunately we passed a Ross Dress For Less store, where I was able to pop inside and purchase some long undies which I put on in a dressing room before venturing outside again. I felt much better sporting my under new togs, and hence up for more walking, and snapping.    We eventually arrived at the theater where we saw the wonderful but heart-gripping movie "Lion," the true story of a lost child who, as an adult, seeks to find his way home. If you go see it be sure to bring along a couple of kleenex.  Later when dinner time rolled around we tried out a Cuban restaurant near Romaine's house, called El Cubo de Cuba.  It was a really neat little place.   
 ...while Romaine had a spicy shrimp dish which she pronounced equally yummy.  By Friday night the weekend weather forecast was sounding ominous: no more sun in store, but snow for Saturday and an ice storm on Sunday, which was my departure day.
To be continued...
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Part one: Procuring The Ticket As often as I fly, I'd never flown first class. But I'd always wanted to, just once, just to see if it's all that. Yesterday I finally did get the opportunity to fly first class, and it was, indeed, very nice; even better because I didn't have to pay for it. That is to say, I didn't have to pay for it with money. I paid for it, rather, with a couple of hours of my time last spring when I volunteered to be bumped from an Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Portland and was given a $400 flight voucher in compensation (see post from 3/26/2016). In truth there are few things that thrill me like snagging a free airline ticket. To this end whenever I fly and the depature gate area looks crowded I keep my ears peeled for the announcement that bump-volunteers are needed so that I can be ready to spring out of my seat and be the first person at the airline counter. Sometimes I don't even wait for the announcement , I just proceed up to the gate on my own and let the clerk know that if the flight ends up overbooked I'm ready and willing to reliquish my seat. So you can imagine my dismay when several months later I endeavoured to cash in my $400 voucher towards a Columbus-Los Angeles- Portland- Columbus trip and was informed that the voucher was only good on Alaska Airlines flights up and down the West Coast. I don't fly up and down the West Coast. I fly cross-country. At first I was mucho annoyed and felt as if I'd been scammed by Alaska Airlines. But then when I was planning my next West Coast trip I got the idea of looking into the possibility of booking one-way tickets to each destination instead of booking one multi-city round-trip ticket as I ususally do. In other words, one ticket Columbus to L.A., another L.A. to Portland, and another Portland to Columbus. This way I figured I could use up at least part of the voucher for the south-north leg of the trip from Los Angeles to Portland. To my happy surprise, I learned that it's actually cheaper booking my trip this way, in one-way-ticket segments rather than one big round trip, and it would be even cheaper this time because, of course, I could use my voucher for part of the trip. But the cost of the ticket from Los Angeles to Portland was under $100 on most airlines, about $150 on Alaska Airlines. Then I got the idea of using up more of my $400 credit by flying first-class L.A. to Portland. Turned out the first-class ticket cost $330 total. Thus I snagged several birds in one fell swoop: I got my L.A.- Portland ticket, used up most of my Alaska Airlines voucher, and would soon be able to kick off my bucket list my desire to fly first class. Part Two: Prelude To The Flight In retrospect, I must say that for me the very best part of flying first class was my entitlement to make use of the Alaska Airlines VIP lounge, known as The Boardroom, in the L.A. airport before my flight. Not that there aren't some nice places to wait around in the public area of the Los Angeles airport, because there are,   ...but waiting in The Boardroom was awesome. My plane ended up being an hour delayed. It could have been delayed two hours, so content was I to wait around in The Boardroom.
 ...a work area, 
 ...and a deluxe ladies' room. 
 But there were other free refreshments,  
 I partook of a toasted bagel and a cup of tea, 
 ...and I was about to check out the Chicken Andouille soup,  ...when I glanced over at the departures board and saw that - holy cow! - I'd lost track of time and my plane was boarding and would be taking off in 20 minutes! Part Three: The Flight I quickly gathered up my stuff and hauled elbow over to my gate where the last zone was boarding in a behemoth's tail of a line. I headed to the end of the long line then remembered: I'm first class! I can zip by everyone else via the first class lane! Which I did. By the time I boarded, everyone else who was going to be sitting in my section had already taken their seats, and so it was with great delight that I saw that the seat next to mine was empty, except for a couple of bottles of water. As expected, the seat was muy comfy.  A little into the flight the attendant came around and asked people if they'd like anything to drink. I declined. A little later the attendant came by again and asked us if we'd like to have the meal, tortellini in cream sauce. I accepted. Just before we were served my fellow passengers and I were presented with warm wet cloths with which to wash our hands, I presume, though I'm pretty sure that if you're serious about wanting to clean your hands you should have soap and water. Still, the warm cloths were pleasant. 
 ...though I think that if I were to become a first-class regular I'd skip the plane meal and just fill up on the yummy food in the VIP room.
In truth I have only two criticisms of my first class flight: 1. I assumed that the internet would be free but no, one has to pay in first class, same as in economy. 2. I was cold, but when I asked the attendant for a blanket she said they didn't have any blankets but that she would ask them to turn up the heat. I wasn't sure if she was joking about turning up the heat or if she was serious but forgot to get to it; in any case, I was cold the whole flight. And finally, this isn't a criticism, merely an observation: the bathroom in first class was exactly the same as the one in economy. I know this because I checked both out both bathrooms. But I didn't mind. I'm always grateful for any available bathroom en route. ...Continued from yesterday: On New Year's Day we went for a walk to downtown Manhattan Beach along the Chip Path, a beautiful walking trail that runs parallel to the ocean along Manhattan Beach.   Manhattan Beach was crowded with strollers out enjoying the lovely weather. 
 ...which was also crowded, inside,  ...as well as outside with people waiting for a seat. 
 ...with a pretty view.  The food was good, as it always is at The Kettle,  
  ...back to the Chip Path and towards home.   For dinner we had spaghetti squash topped with tomatoes and green onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil,  ...which rounded out the day nicely.  On Friday night, January 30, Tom and I went out to the movies at The Arclight Cinema in Manhattan Beach to see "La La Land," which got great reviews and the trailer of which promised a sweet, whimsical musical,  ...but which kind of made me think of flat ginger ale. Between the song and dance numbers the movie didn't really fizz, I thought.
 ...as was the square outside the theater,  ...and in the lobby were on display the actual outfits worn by Denzel Washington and his co-star in the movie "Fences".   The next day, New Year's Eve, Tom and I went to The Point, 
  
 We agreed the sandwiches at this restaurant were the best, each one deliciously seasoned and sauced. 
 That evening we opted to go out for dinner at a little Manhattan Beach pizzeria called Union Pizza, 
 ...and that serves good spaghetti.
 ...while I had the Spaghetti Pomodoro. Molto yummy!  After dinner we returned to the nearby Arclight Cinema to catch another movie.
 ...which, despite the stank reviews it received, we really enjoyed.
It's been a while since we laughed so hard at a movie, and then we continued laughing after the it was over, recalling the hilarious scenes. We figured we could do worse than laugh our way into the new year. For millions of Americans 2016 came to a rough end, culminating in the weeks since the surreal outcome of a drawn-out and dreadful presidential election that has that left so many of us feeling mentally battered, devastated and frightened; we are without a doubt a country suffering from widespread PTSD. I've heard, and you've likely heard too, people saying that 2016 has been such an awful year, 2017 has to be better. But the truth is that what made 2016 so awful has been the fearful anticipation of what 2017 will bring for each of us, our country and our world under the rule of our erratic new President. 2016 only planted the seed, which was nurtured,  ...into something like a a giant, many-branched tree, powerful but twisted. 2017 will bear the fruit of that tree for us all. What we've been suffering up until now hasn't been Post Traumatic Stress disorder, but Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder, even as we ride on the hope that a bad tree might bear good fruit. Most of us hold no grand ambitions in life and require little to make us happy. We all just want to enjoy life, to have our basic needs met for ourselves and our loved ones and maybe a few nice possessions besides; to have an occupation or purpose, some friends and family, to be treated decently by our fellow human beings, to be free to come and go about our daily affairs, to have enough money in our pockets to have a little fun now and then, go out to eat once in a while, maybe be able to take a trip now and then, to live in peace without fear of war or violence befalling us and those we care about. Most of us are happy enough to live and let live. Most of us aren't reaching for the moon, stars, and the sun. Most of us of just want a reasonably peaceful, pleasant existence, which is what the Trump-terrified among us fear losing in the changes that could be on the horizon in 2017. Still, who ever really knows what will happen, and we'll see, day by day, what transpires for our country, our world, and for us all as we each of us begin the jouney that starts today to a new year in the history of our planet.  Last night, New Year's Eve, I made a resolution to take the coming year one day at a time, and in one year from now, on the last night of December, to look back over the events of 2017 and recall where the world was at the beginning of the year and see where it is at the end. Maybe we'll all be fine after all.  |
"Tropical Depression"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY Archives
April 2025
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