Saturday in Portland

I rose after 5:30, as I was still aligning with the local time, and I got to the laptop and started on the blog. Liberal coffee was made in the French Press. The taste of Justice, Compassion, and Community floods into my morning, and the bitterness of the coffee reminds me how much more needs to be done.

I had much to say about Friday, even on a quiet day, and writing and publishing the blog took a few hours. Thinking of Susie, I had cold pizza–she loved pizza for breakfast. The New Orleans School of Cooking (NOSC) warning came to mind that we don’t spice up our food if they are to be reheated as the seasoning will be overshadowed by the hot as it will expand while the spices become more subtle and are lost in the burn.

I am distracted most of the morning and find it difficult to focus. I decide to head out and deliver Z a T-shirt from Preservation Hall. Dondrea gets one of the cooking kits from NOSC and a bandana from Preservation Hall.

Traffic across Beaverton, following the familiar trail that once took me daily to see the hummingbird house. Construction has another stop light that takes three tries to pass. Just a typical day on Hall Boulevard. With the traffic and construction, I only see some of the usual poor driving and passive-aggressive behavior. Yes, we will get in line and then try to block those who try to cut in. The usual.

I wait for Dondrea, who took Z to soccer this wet morning. It is more than Oregon Mist today, with rain bouncing off Air Volvo. I did take it to be washed this morning in the pouring rain. Being in Oregon, I was not alone at the carwash on a rainy day. Here, parked, the water is beading up on the hood and running off the windshield.

I read the rules for the last extension of my favorite board game, Istanbul. I have never played the Giant Everything version. Someday, but I fear it will explode Z’s head with all the options. The expansions provide more ways to gain rubies to win the game. Thus, new strategies are available when another player focuses on one, and you start to block each other, likely giving the game away to a third player.

Dondrea and Z and then Larry, Dondrea’s uncle, appear, and I join them to talk about cooking and various other ideas. Dondrea is thrilled with the recipes, and I discuss some additions from the class. Dondrea and Larry try the supplied spices with the Cajan Power (no fish) Worcestershire Sauce, likely to be used up fast.

I leave and face rain and traffic on a Saturday afternoon but soon arrive and find free parking at Lucky Labrador off of Hawthorn in SE Portland. There, I get a beer, try to work on my sermon in two Sundays, and manage only a few paragraphs of questionable value; the focus is hard to find. I have a bowl of salted peanuts and drink the beer for a few hours. The place is quiet for a weekend, but the rains are new, and folks in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) huddle down at home, likely working on homework, damp soccer games, school projects, or housework for the first few weeks of the rains. We then love the rain again, rake our melted leaves in our soggy lawns, wander-soaked corn mazes, and select slicken pumpkins.

(Lucky Labrador)

I find another beer with less alcohol as I have a game to play at Richard’s at 6 and a salad. I am distracted and notice I run almost late, which never happens unless there are traffic events. I drive the short crossing of SE to NE and arrive just in time for the game. Richard greets me and is concerned I am not early.

Today’s game is new for me, and I am crushed with a last-place finish. I was surprised that Lauren beat Richard by a few points, who was doing his usual come-from-behind point-gathering trick. Kathleen rises twenty points, past my low score. I stayed with my day job too much and did not focus enough on the final goals, which were my usual issues in a new game. I am more interested in the mechanics and how the game flows (sorry, forever computer guy). Drugs disguised as ‘candy’ play a prominent role in this game. The cards you can collect include the usual fan romances. The theme is definitely late 1970s Sex, Drugs, and Rock, and it is immersive from a resource managing point of view. Ultimately, it was fun and aligned well with the edgy theme. Recommended with some caution for content.

(I always play yellow as it is a color nobody wants and also the color of victory in some events like biking)

Aside: These end-of-game public and private goals provide variation in these games. Once learned, without them, the board game becomes stale and repetitive. These goals direct how to play and win (often countering the efficiency of regular play). Kathleen frequently lectures me after another poor score that I should pay more attention to and collect them (in games where they are a resource to collect and achieve). I try. I win only once in a great while.

I drive Kathleen home, and we talk about politics and concerns in Air Volvo. Soon, I drop her off, cross Portland, and arrive at the Volvo Cave in the pouring rain. With the rain, the traffic was lighter, slower, and, dare I say, a bit more sane.

I manage to get to bed before midnight and soon sleep. I likely dreamed of ‘candy,’ sex, and how I can’t play a single instrument or sing. Likely, I scored low in the dream, too. At least for my music…

Thanks for reading.