Living in a Time Warp

2009 Rose Festival Junior Parade

Sometimes I feel like living in Portland is living in a time warp. It is this strange combination of extreme liberal progressiveness mixed with a good dose of good old fashioned yesteryear. Perhaps it is daily seeing someone in a 1950's (which is back in style) vintage dress riding her upright bike through town or maybe it is that we live in a 100 year old house in a neighborhood with sidewalks or maybe it is that our neighborhood pool only costs $40 for an entire family to join for the summer (and they still serve popcorn and a slushy for $1). Today, it was confirmed, as the Junior Rose Parade marched right through our neighborhood as it has for the past ONE HUNDRED AND TWO YEARS. Eleanor decorated her trike and donned a beautifully made dress of Oma's to hit the neighborhood and see literally thousands of children parade right down our neighborhood streets. The parade began in 1907 -three years before our house was built- and has continued since then as it has become part of Portland's yearly Rose Festival celebrations.
We saw lots of friends and neighbors strolling the streets. Here is Eleanor with one of her best buddies from preschool, Rory.

Eleanor takes to the sidewalk because the streets were closed.


not sure what this chick is about...

the local Waldorf school kids don their stilts. "How do they look so TALL, Mommy?."

Don't look too hard for Rynn. She decided she didn't want me to pick her up early from school to see the parade. This is the first year they haven't canceled public school classes for the parade. Rynn didn't want to miss Japanese "which is the best part of the day, Mommy." Here are some representatives from her school. Maybe next year.

A HUGE origami crane dances above the group from Richmond.

The Dragon Boats

So...whatever can be said about Portland, boring it is not. Around every corner, especially as the weather warms, is some festival. The Dragon Boat Races, which are held annually during the first week of June, have inspired our imaginations as we have seen dragon boats filled with rowers floating on the Willamette and bike commuters with canoe paddles strapped to their backs heading over the Hawthorne Bridge. While downtown for the girls' swim lessons this week Rynn, Eleanor and I walked down to the docks to get a close up look at these interesting boats. Below I have copied a description of what the Dragon Boat Races are all about from an online website describing Portland's relationship with its sister city in Taiwan.

"The Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race is an annual cultural event hosted by the Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association (PKSCA) that is held in early June as a sanctioned event of the Portland Rose Festival Foundation. The event features as many as 96 dragon boat teams from all over the world who race in Taiwan-style dragon boats. There are three divisions: Mixed, Women, and High School. The race is held on the Willamette River located at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland.

Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association promotes “people to people” exchanges of educational, artistic, and cultural activities. PKSCA maintains several programs that focus on and support our mission. These include the annual Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race, participation in the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, and Starlight Parade, annual good will delegation exchanges between Portland and Kaohsiung, and support of Portland Chinese organizations and programs."

*All the above pictures are mine from this afternoon except for this one which is a picture of last year's Dragon Boat Race featured in the Oregonian. The winner has to grab that yellow flag. Looks like tough work!*

And for more exciting Portland eccentric side news...this flyer I saw in the library today for CIRQUE DU CYCLING which for you Portlanders is going to be on June 13th on Mississippi Ave., and I'm bummed it is scheduled when we will be out of town. Check out the photos of this bike parade!
check it out at http://www.cyclingcircus.com/

sprinkler fun

"Mommy, can we do this every day this summer?" -Eleanor
We are having quite an unseasonal warm streak here in Portland, and the girls are LOVING IT. They insisted on wearing their swim goggles to play in the sprinkler "so we don't have to close our eyes, mommy."

Eleanor gets airborne.

look closely...Rynn is missing another tooth and those two in the front are about to go!

Rhodies, Roses, and Rainbows

Rynn sprays rainbows as she waters the garden.

I read an article in our newspaper, The Oregonian, last week about Oregon and its history of attracting people who want to create a sort of "Eden." The article gave account of dozens of groups and individuals who have come to Oregon during the last 150 years seeking communal living, seeking a place to live off the land, seeking a place to find peace in nature, and seeking others who want to live the same. Having lived here now almost two years I am beginning to understand why people have been drawn to this lush state. With rhododendrons over two stories high and rose bushes spilling their fragrant blossoms onto sidewalks, Portland is in full bloom as our weather transitions from moist dampness to glorious, humid free sunshine. And the plants are answering back to the long lengthening days with their bright vibrant colors and seemingly effortless growth. Our garden, planted only weeks away from seed, is already taking off. I filled two salad spinners tonight from just lightly trimming the lettuce.

I seem to remember that last year at this time my blogging took a hit as well. It is just so hard to sit down at my computer when the warm evening sunlight is bathing my front porch. Matter of fact, that sunlight is calling right now! Adieu!





an attempt to get a picture of Eleanor doing a dance...not a great pic but a great moment :).

Goodbye Opa

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Fred Little, aka 'Opa,' who passed away yesterday morning in his own kitchen after pouring his morning cup of juice. Less than five months since his wife of sixty years, 'Oma,' died of cancer Opa is now free from the pain of this world as he joins Oma in the presence of Jesus. It was just a few weeks ago Opa sent the girls a poem and some stickers in the mail. Tenderly, he was carrying on Oma's tradition of little surprises. It seems strange and not quite real that both of them are gone. Ever since I first met them, when Jason and I had only begun dating, I have been inspired by their love for one another, for their community, and for their family. And there is one less Little man with the signature calves walking this planet, and that is a loss for all of us.

the may whirlwind

So, I have this theory now that Rynn is in Elementary School, and that is that May is a lot like September. In September there is the rush to 'begin' the year, while in May the rush seems to be in tying things up. I feel as though we have been moving at breakneck speed with field trips, festivals, spring flings, shows, etc... Today's delightfully warm weather and sun made me SO EXCITED for summer. I'm looking forward to some lazy mornings on our front porch with a cup of coffee, and some relaxed evenings grilling in the back with friends.

Other Little news...this weekend we are fostering a 100 pound Weimeraner named Roscoe to see if he might be a good fit for our family. Jason found him through the Western Washington Weim rescue, and so far he has been wonderful. His whole life has been with one owner who loves him dearly but is moving to Australia and doesn't want to put him through the trauma of quarantine/travel/etc. He is very friendly and very gentle and VERY BIG. We will return him to his owner on Wednesday and, if we decide he is the dog for us, get him in the end of June when we return from a visit to Colorado.

Roscoe lounges in the yard with Jason and Rynn enjoying the 80 degree day we had today.

Eleanor enjoys a field trip with her class to a BEAUTIFUL farm where the children planted pumpkin seeds to harvest in the fall.
Below, Eleanor is not so sure about the farmer giving an explanation of bees and how they pollinate.
check back for some videos of Eleanor's Spring show and Rynn's spring show (where she got to sing those Japanese songs with her class)

CHAP

Rynnn jumping on a mattress with painted feet.



Biking to the party with our neighbor Anna.

Eleanor gets to mattress jump.

Painting a box castle.

more painting with Daddy looking on..

Saturday afternoon the Little family went to perhaps one of the coolest birthday parties ever. Our little buddy Maxine had her birthday party at CHAP which stands for "Children's Healing Art Project." You can read more about it at http://www.chap.name/ . It was a two story high room filled with natural light, an indestructible place where children could paint, bead, create, and even jump on a mattress with painted feet. All the money that events raise at CHAP goes toward art therapy in children's hospitals in Portland. They have some amazing classes for kids. For example, one art class is taught by a woman with no arms. She teaches children how to paint with their feet. I was so inspired by the whole project, and especially by the director Frank, that I'm hoping to get involved by volunteering. They have so many cool opportunities both in hospitals and in their creative space. We stayed two hours after the two hour birthday party was over, and we still had to drag out our little artists. Another fun tidbit from the afternoon was getting to meet the movie star Keri Russell who was there with her son "River" painting. Apparently she is in town filming a movie with Harrison Ford. We were all being awkward around the movie star, but our uninhibited Eleanor walked up to them and said, "Hey, can I play with you guys?."