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Of Waves And Seagulls, Football Crowds And Church Bells
Back from PDX last night after a very relaxing train ride from Vancouver (more on that later).
I always feel a little disconnected at family gatherings. Most of my relatives live in fairly close proximity to each other, and so they benefit from an almost daily interaction with each other that's lacking in my relationship to them.
But, I also recognize it's not their fault. Regardless of the circumstances that brought me to where I am today, I'm the one who chooses to live 200 miles away, and so much of the responsibility for keeping myself "in the loop" rests squarely on my shoulders. But, it's still somewhat disconcerting to listen to aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents talk about things they did together yesterday or last week or last month and know that it's completely outside of the frame of reference that defines my life, and that for the most part, that's the way things will always be.
Still, it does make me appreciate the limited time I do spend with them, and I hope I've done a good job of letting them know that.
The wedding was quite lovely, small-scale, intimate even, and the new bride (my cousin Jessica) and groom (her new hubby Luke) seem like a great couple; I wish them all the best.
Because the event was at my aunt & uncle's in North Portland, I only managed the briefest excursion into downtown. But, for future reference, Tri-Met has extended the MAX Light Rail "Yellow Line" north to the Expo Center, which is at most a 10 minute walk from their condo, and it takes only about 20 minutes to get from there to City Center -- at a cost of $2.60 round-trip, it's a real bargain (not to mention another glaring example of what Seattle's missing in terms of mass transit options). Got off right underneath the Burnside Bridge, smack in the heart of the Saturday Market,
From there it was an easy 10 block trek along the edge of Chinatown
to Powell's (bought an old Thomas Pynchon, and new Jonathan Raban & Mark Chabon).
Afterwards finished off with a pint of Hammerhead at Ringler's Pub.
(Just hope my coleagues at Annex Theatre don't get mad that Mike & Brian have co-opted their name!)
And finally a snap of the inspiration for (what every theatre geek knows is) Teddy "Roosevelt" Brewster's favorite bathtub toy...
All-in-all a pretty quintessential "Portland Experience" crammed into less than two hours time.
Posted byCOMTE
on 2:09 PM
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