Hi Debby,
.....
In Oregon, Portland is the largest city and by national standards is quite livable. I’m working enough to consume most of my waking weekday hours when prep and post work necessities are included. I took up commercial truck driving a year and a half ago and work for a regional food commodity distributor like Roadway, Yellow, or Reddaway only food. My wife Patty is a fabulous watercolor Artist. She teaches watercolor to age 55+ folks at Clark College across the Columbia in Vancouver WA . She gives workshops about 10-15 times a year and has a few workshops at Sitka Center on the coast in the summer.
http://www.sitkacenter.org/ her name is Patricia Schmidt and has been at this since she could put crayon to wall and has a line of 10 fine art greeting cards, original watercolor art and Giclee’ prints.
Portland and Oregon are the most fabulous places. We are in early but significant spring with daffodils, early Rhododendrons Azaleas, Camellias, Pieris, flowering plums, cherries, pears, Bergenia, Candytuft, Forsythia, Quince, and a thousand other things. It stays cool and rainy for a few months so the spring flowering season just goes on and on. (We talk about our cold wet climate to scare people away) It’s so mild here there are palm and banana trees. The weather is worse in Syracuse than it is here. I needed snow tires twice this year on a few icy mornings. We never had enough snow to even think about shoveling. Now that I think about it, I don’t even own a snow shovel. We are north of the 45th parallel which dissects Oregon 25 or 30 miles south of Portland , so we are actually way north but heated by the Japanese current even though the ocean is 100 miles away on the other side of a mountain range. Oh my God, I could write a book on the virtues of Oregon and all the fun things to do in this incredibly beautiful and diverse place.
Flannel shirts have been traded in for sandals and micro-brew beer, fine wines, and of course coffee heaven. We have the nicest airport I’ve ever seen, huge ocean going terminals for containers, Japanese cars, grain and lumber exports and major railroads heading north, south and East. We can see 12,000 ft Mt Hood from any where in town and Mt St Helens has been puffing for a few years as seen from anywhere but the lowest spots around here. The coast which is entirely within the public domain makes the east coast south of Cape Cod look like a sandbox or water hazard at a golf course. Speaking of golf, you can play year round here if you want. (I don’t play but rather apply my irrigation and horticulture knowledge). Had enough?
I’ve been way behind in catching up with you. I remember pretty much everyone from the great class of ’66. My birthday was in January so I suppose we’re all turning 60 at about the same time. Film at 11.
The best to everyone!
Dan
