1. Once I was up and finished my morning writing routine, I walked about six blocks or so from Patrick and Meagan's apartment to Milwaukie Ave SE and popped into Rose City Coffee, a handsome, fairly spacious coffeehouse, busy with any number of people at their laptop computers pecking away or reading books, newspapers, or magazines while sipping on a coffee drink. I ordered bagels for Debbie, Patrick, and me and took them back to the apartment. If I lived in the part of town where Patrick and Meagan reside, I'm certain Rose City Coffee is where I'd go daily to enjoy a cup of coffee and a bagel, jump on the internet, and play a few word games and write my daily blog entries.
2. Once again, the Camry performed superbly as we drove from Portland to Kellogg today. I especially enjoyed the sunlit Columbia Gorge, the pale green of new leaves and emerging grass in contrast to snow on the upper parts of the mounds and hills along the river. I also enjoyed listening to the man who pumped our gas in The Dalles. He saw the beer event posters Debbie was bringing home from 16 Tons and that led him to tell us about growing up in Cheshire, west of Eugene. Now, he told me, he lives in Durfur, a small town not far from The Dalles, happy to be away from all the growth and people in Eugene, Springfield, and Portland.
His mention of Dufur immediately brought to mind a student of mine at LCC who enrolled in the entire sequence of writing and philosophy classes Rita and I taught together. She was our student in 1993-94. I can see her face. I can see her working her job at Safeway at the Edgewood Shopping Center in Eugene. Oh! I just remembered her name! Sara(h). She was from Dufur and I think her life was moving in the opposite direction of the man who pumped our gas. He was seeking a place to live apart from people and the challenges of larger cities. I am quite sure Sara(h) was looking to break free of small town life in Dufur and hoped that living in the Willamette Valley would help her satisfy her desires for adventure and challenge.
I have no idea what happened to Sara(h). I last saw her in 1994. Those students Rita and I worked with in the 1990s remain frozen in time in my mind. Those years were so invigorating that it still seems like they happened just a few years ago -- but, no, nearly thirty years have passed and now Sara(h), wherever she is, is in her mid-40s. I hope she found what she was looking for, having left Dufur, and that she is happy. It makes me happy to remember her and those many students Rita and I had so much fun with back then.
3. Debbie and I pulled into our driveway in Kellogg at about 7:00. Everything at home was in great shape. Luna and Copper had enjoyed their couple of weeks of having the Vizio room and living room to themselves. Debbie drove up to Diane's and picked up Gibbs and he was enthused to see her again and to return back home. We discovered the Sube needs a new headlight on the driver's side so I'll get that done tomorrow. Debbie remembered there was a quart of frozen chicken soup in the basement. She thawed it and heated it up. It really hit the spot. I look forward to returning to home cooking again. It was fun eating at different places in Eugene, enjoying the feast of roasted vegetables Anne prepared, and relishing food delivered to us at Patrick and Megan's in Portland, but I'll also enjoy getting back to preparing and eating meals here at home again.
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