Today 16July2023

I am writing again in the morning for the previous day. This Monday morning, some clouds hopefully will keep us under 80F (27C).

Yesterday, Sunday, started with me waking with my alarm at 7AM; I woke up from the bright morning light a few times but rolled back over and slept some more. I found the kitchen and made liberal coffee and cut a piece of pastry, and broke open another banana for breakfast. I carried these consumables to the office and started on the blog for Saturday while eating. I also read my email and took a peek at the news.

I did some laundry, and time seemed to fly away. I reworked my Howard story, my fictional version of H.P. Lovecraft, about his imaged lockdown to under 7,000 words–it is much improved by the reduction. I am thinking of submitting it to a local publication. I ate the rest of the leftover pasta for lunch, showered, dressed, boarded Air Volvo, and headed to Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Barb, Susie’s sister, had started earlier at the hummingbird house and had taken Susie to Metzger Park before I arrived. When I came, without much traffic on Sunday, we decided to head to the local mall, Washington Square, only a few minutes away. We boarded Air Volvo with Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, getting Susie into the co-pilot seat and Barb taking First Class behind us.

We soon arrived, and I had no problem unloading Susie, and soon we were in the mall. We used the Macy’s entrance, and the handicap door has finally (after two years) been repaired. We pushed the button, and both doors opened like normal. Excellent!

Barb made a bee-line for the Made In Oregon store and bought a few small items. We managed to resist the siren call of Sock Empire’s colorful socks. We settled at a small table in the food court, using the lift to get to the second floor (why the lift has buttons for three floors is a mystery). Once seated, Barb had a veggie sub and a scoop of strawberry ice cream for Susie. I found a side salad to increase my veggie intake.

We then toured more of the mall. We did almost the entire circle passing through Nordstrums to connect to Williams Sonoma, which we visited but resisted getting a new fancy and bright-colored spatula. You can collect them all now!

We found the flower truck (a VW bus turned into a plant stand), and Susie picked out more flowers to take back. I had a challenge loading Susie and had to put her back and try again. I thought I had enough space, but I was wrong. Susie seemed unimpacted by my redo and was safely in the co-pilot seat. She is so fragile now I am worried I will bump her into the car and we will have a new problem. But you have to keep going, so I do.

Susie, now sleeping, seemed fine as we popped over to Beaverton again and stopped at Paris Baguette. Barb jumped out once I parked and got some desserts for Susie. While we waited for Barb, a gal parked a Subaru next to Air Volvo and could not get out (she is a big girl), so I heard the Sabaru car door hit Air Volvo. I winced but did not react. A later check showed no damage to Air Volvo.

We reached the hummingbird house without incident. I unloaded Susie, and soon Susie was back with Jennifer and Louis, with Barb staying for the rest of the afternoon. I returned to the Volvo Cave and arrived quickly as there was little traffic on Sunday afternoon. I sorted and put away some laundry, rested, and edited some more. Barb came nearing 7PM, and we headed to the local Mexican place for margaritas and dinner. We talked briefly and then returned to the Volvo Cave in Air Volvo–a short trip.

Barb and I spoke for a while, Barb managed to stay up past 10PM, and I went to bed a bit later.

A busy day. Thanks for reading!