Garage Sales and Farmers Markets

One of the things I have discovered since living in Portland is that "garage sale" and "farmers' market" are entirely new concepts in this land of resuse and recycle and live organically whenever possible. Today, on a bike adventure with the girls, Jason and I enjoyed tasting locally grown organic pears, freshly brewed beer, and even $5 silk lampshades (didn't buy it, though, no lamp to go with it....oh there was that $250 mid-19th c. lamp at the one house. she didn't want to bargain. Oh well). As you can see from the pictures, we did come home with one prize- a child sized coat rack to hold all those fleece jackets and hats that we suddenly need since fall has ARRIVED.

On another note, the cultural differences of living in this unique city continue to amaze me. Today I served at a local food bank for one of our neighbors who needed a substitute. I've never had to gather a gluten free-vegan bag of groceries for a homeless person before, but today I had another first. Crazy place, this Portland. The next guy wanted cat food in his bag. Keeping Portland weird. :)