Her Story

Every school aged child growing up in Portland during the 50's, well into the 80's, and even today remember the stories of Ramona the Pest and OUR fictional friends.

                                                         

Ramona

Our neighborhood Claim to Fame is the children's book author Beverly Cleary. All across this part of town are clues that Beverly Cleary was here.

Here at Grant Park is a water fountain honoring Ms. Cleary. In the summer it's a bubbling cool down for children. In the winter, it's well, time for a snowball fight?

                                                         

 Henry

This is Henry Huggins. The book, Henry and the Paper Route inspired me to have my own paper route in my childhood neighborhood back in the 70's. From our local library there are tours(and maps) that walk Henry's route with stops at various Beverly Cleary sites.

                                                        

 Ramona's Bungalow

Ramona lived at the corner of 28th and Klickitat. We were privileged to live in Ramona's "fictional" house for 7 years and were a bit taken aback by its local fame. In Beverly Cleary's own words, Klickitat sounded like knitting needles. A postcard she sent us is now with the new owners as it intends to stay where it belongs-with the free spirit of Ramona.

Beverly Cleary's childhood house is a block from the school she once learned to read and write and now is properly named Beverly Cleary School. It's in this school that young students are lucky enough to study in the classroom(still very much the same) where Beverly learned the alphabet in her early years.

Beverly Cleary's Childhood Home

I'm pretty certain that the new owners will enjoy their "many storied" little bungalow on Klickitat. After all, she(the new owner), is a children's librarian at the local library. Coincidence?

Perhaps. Drop by the Hollywood branch library, pick up the tour, and find out for yourself.

And The Oscar Goes To...

Call me old fashioned

Call me a Luddite(Ned)

Call me Woody

Just don't call me Woody Grant

Laurelhurst Theater Portland

I don't go out to the movies often but when I do I like to get my money's worth. Here at the Laurelhurst, one of Portland's many vintage cinemas, $3 will get you in the door to several Oscar nominated films. On a splurge date I'd pop for a slice of pizza and a craft beer. Today is the matinee so I'm ushered past concessions into Nebraska, the girls went to Save Mr. Banks.

In the Film Nebraska, Bruce Dern portrays wily, stubborn old Woody Grant on a road trip to claim HIS money's worth in a Suburu wagon he and his son will load with cash. Take it from here Woody.

I won't be watching the Oscars tonight.  Not much for fancy pants or trophies. Besides, I've got homework and the awards go(on and on) well beyond my bedtime.

I wish the Wonderful World Of Disney would return to prime time Sunday. Wonderful World was within my realm of TV hours and I always went to bed with that warm, fuzzy, Disney feeling. You know that feeling. The feeling where dreams(and trophies) do come true.

Woody Grant didn't win a million dollars but might just win this trophy.

Never stop dreaming--> Woody

un-Birthday

Woke up this morning and thought it was the last day of the month. Something us renters are keenly aware of. No, not this year. Instead, today is the first of March. Those poor folks born on the 29th of February only celebrate every four years??

Let's have what we call in the Pope family an "un-Birthday" for the leap day Birthdays.

We've been known to throw the occasional un-Birthday as a means to celebrate the day. This day can be any day of the week, any day of the month, any month of the year. It just can't be a Birthday.

     un-Birthday Cookie

No need for balloons or fanfare. A cake(or cookie) will do. A small simple present is a nice touch. Hey, let's open up this jar of pickled Brussels sprouts from Door County, Wisconsin. Nothin' beats a snappy pickled Brussels sprout and a giant cookie at an un-Birthday party.

   Gift from Door County

Now, everyone together~~~

Happy un-Birthday to you, Happy un-Birthday to you, Happy un-Birthday dear________,

Happy un-Birthday to you--> <:)

In-Flight

My sister called a while back and said she thought Mom was lonely. Let's go see Mom! So here I am in row 27(I like the aisle seat), and the middle seat is impossibly empty, on my way to Phoenix. Whoa yea, gimme some elbow room, I'm gonna blog!

What else am I going to do? I've done the crossword and someone beat me to the sudoku. So here it is, my first attempt at FREE inflight Wi-Fi about a plane. First off, an Allstate insurance advertisement.

Row 27 is way in the back. In the overhead, above my head, the semi-automatic defibrillator and my carry-on. Closer to the rear lavatory, last to deplane. No worry, No hurry.

My Carry-On

Last week Portland must have hosted a dog show. There are two well behaved, well groomed little doggies, in little doggie bags, aboard.

Typically, I get the spicy tomato juice. It's the only complimentary beverage most like a meal, especially without ice. It also compliments the small handful of complimentary sesame snacks which are slightly larger than a sesame seed. Not to worry, I'm looking forward to the tuna casserole Mom makes.

Blow up pillow? Fifteen minutes to blow it up for an hour and a half flight? Dude, wake up! We're about to land in the Land of Enchantment. Wait a minute, that's New Mexico.

Oh wow, there IS a guy driving this thing. He just announced that we're flying over Bryce Canyon and it's currently 60° in the Phoenix area. Almost there Mom.

And what's a flight without the screaming child? For me, it's music to my ears. My way of "paying-it-backward" with respect to those brave parents as I was one of them some time ago when Carli logged many miles as a small, wiggly child.

My Story and Photos

The mother and daughter playing patty cakes, giggles, on time departure, early arrival~~~Oh, the joy of travel.

Wish Book

This book sits on our coffee table in the living room. Every now and then I thumb through it, especially when I hear an interesting geographical fact. Sure, I could GOOGLE that factoid, but this ATLAS is here, in 3D, right at my fingertips. It's not an ordinary coffee table book, for us, it's our wish book.

Our Wish Book

In the last year or so, we've been following several travel bloggers, each with their own travel philosophies, strategies, and tips. Not to mention their Brand. Something Hali and I will soon reveal once we know what our Brand is. 

Recently, I've discovered the travel site BootsnAll. I like this site for several reasons but foremost is that this community of travelers doesn't categorize the various travel strategies as the best or worst but instead, gives you options, without the sales pitch.

They outline a 30-day long term travel plan with a course of action every day. After 30 days, you get a pretty good idea which direction you might go.

With BootsnAll, they cover the obvious like packing, budget, overland travel, etc. as well as the topics which will require some homework. This includes visas, vaccinations, and travel insurance.

The efficiency of slow travel makes sense, however there are many not so obvious issues to prepare for and, as a student of travel, do a little homework every day.

Passportsandpostcards.com

For us, part of the fun is planning, and essential, in determining our long term itinerary. One little problem we're facing is which page in this book do we open to first?

So many options.

Hosed and Torched in the Same Day?

I have three 50 foot garden hoses but only one small garden. Also in the yard are two outdoor water valves, just 50 feet away from each other. Why do I have three hoses? Thirty years of accumulation, that's why. Do I need three hoses? Well, I suppose a back up hose was a good idea-not any more.

Hosed?

Met a neighbor building a GREEN irrigation system in his yard. He needs any spare hoses. I have two spares but told him my goal of selling one thing a week. I gave him the better than the Dollar Store price for a pair of hoses. A mere buck for both. Sold $1~~~ A dollar towards my goal and the bonus of never tripping over three hoses in the yard again...

...I used this torch for a fairly simple plumbing project a few years ago. A plumber would have taken maybe an hour for this job which would've drained my wallet $150.

Torched?

Instead, I invested $20 for the torch, fuel, and igniter and DIM(Did It Myself). Took me and hour and a half crawling under the house. Since then, it's been sitting, unlit, in the garage. 

The same neighbor building his irrigation system took it off my hands for $10.

Some may say I was hosed and torched on the same day. Not me, I've got $11 more in my pocket, and less CRAP layin' around. 

Besides, had I hired a plumber for that simple plumbing project, I'd have felt hosed and torched-$150-OUCH!!

Many A Meal

We left the buyers of our house the option to purchase some of our personal belongings. That way should they elect to do so, they have no need to go find something that fits and we have no need to move it.

That was the beauty of this entire transaction. Both sides were REASONABLE. Both sides were negotiating from the same page. It's almost is if Hali and Chris(the buyer) read each other's minds. Both extremely detail oriented. Hali has been in the business a looooong time. She knows details

Here's what they wanted to take off our hands and into their new vintage home:

• The rattan porch chairs- yes, they belong on that front porch and, I must say, probably add to the curb appeal.

• The mobile kitchen island- again, perfect for that galley kitchen.

• The foosball table- must have been their mercy buy. It was well situated down in the Cave but was a beast to move.

Foosball Anyone?

• The extension ladder- okay, pretty hard to fit into a backpack.

• The push mower- Hali pushed that mower last summer from a curb alert into our garage, it's theirs now.

Finally, they wanted the dining room table. That old farmhouse table was going to be hard to let go. Let's negotiate.

The Negotiating Table

This table has been in Hali's family since the 30's. Spent several years in a barn in upstate New York before getting shipped to us in Oregon in the 90's. We've enjoyed many a meal on it. Spread it out to it's 8 foot glory on many Thanksgivings. Truth be told, that table looked great under the vintage light fixture in THAT dining room. It belongs in that house and will serve many more years there. In any case, it would have probably become a liability as we continue downsizing.

Passportsandpostcards.com

So, the first handful of things we negotiated with Craigslist pricing. That included a couple TI's (throw- ins). The table, well, that was priced as a sentimental piece of Pope history, willing to let it go. The buyers didn't flinch. They too knew that old farmhouse table fits nicely in Ramona's house on Klickitat.

The hand written postcard from Beverly Cleary, a throw in.