Apr 30, 2013 | life around portland
Before we moved to Portland, I remember an influx of Canadian Geese to the Philadelphia area being a big thing that created popular fodder for local news (i.e. headlines like – Canadian Geese Poop Ruins Kids’ Soccer Tournament or Border Collies in High Demand to Chase Geese Off Runways were all the rage). Ok, so both of those headlines are made up, but you get the gist. (Hey, I got to use my good, old-fashioned Journalism degree with that little exercise, so thanks for indulging me.)
Anyway, Portland has geese, but it seems not to the extent of the Philadelphia area, where they really were seemingly EVERYWHERE…including in our small backyard, the field behind our house, the sports fields, parking lots…really anywhere that had grass…or not. Shockingly, Canadian Geese were one of the few animals that didn’t seem to want to set up shop in our attic in our 120+-year old house in Jenkintown. I see them in Portland, but I guess there are enough natural settings that I don’t cross them as much in my everyday life as I did back home? Who knows.
In any case, I encountered this little gem as I drove to the gym recently.
See that yellow sign? It says: Caution! Aggressive geese nesting.
Amazing.
See the mom up there on the walk way roof near the tree?
She’s sitting on her nest.
The orange cones?
They are blocking the walk way so you don’t provoke Goose Dad who hangs out on the sidewalk below Goose Mom while she warms the eggs.
The whole set up is fantastic. I love that the facilities folks have STAKED SIGNS and placed orange cones at either end of the walk way to warn employees about the aggressive geese.
It seems most folks travel around the path / heed the warnings (in my very limited observational research, which entails a five-second drive by on the way into and the way out of the gym parking lot.)
However, last week, I did see a poor fella tempt fate and traverse between the cones.
In his defense, the coast looked clear. Goose Mom was sleeping. Goose Dad was no where to be seen. Until the poor fella ventured too close to Goose Mom. He walked UNDER her. Well, Goose Dad was not a fan of that move, screamed and came running from behind the tree with his wings spread. You know the move – the one where they look huge and menacing and you can see their tongues or whatever they have in their mouths. Poor fella, screamed a little (yay for nice days so I had my windows down and could get the sound effects), jumped back, and said, “Whoa, buddy.” He walked backwards between the two orange cones and took the grass instead. This seemed to appease Goose Dad, who’s featured in the picture below.
Moral of this story? Geese can be aggressive. So if you see a sign telling you so, take heed.
Apr 26, 2013 | life around portland
Here’s an old shot of Grace hanging out in the parking lot in front of the Keep Portland Weird mural across from VooDoo Doughnuts.
This was back when we could still get her to wear jeans. And naturally, she color coordinated with the mural. 😉
Apr 22, 2013 | moments & memories
Gavin and I just ran to the store to drop a package at the Post Office and pick up a few things for dinner. On the way in, he said, “Wait! We’re going to Bales?” I said, “Yes, we’re going to Bales.” He did a little jump / fist pump action and said, “YES! Maybe you’ll get my sack.”
Huh.
Sack.
No idea what he was talking about.
Me: “Your sack?”
Gavin: “Yes, my sack.”
Me: “What’s that?”
Gavin: “My SACK. I decorated it at school.”
Now, because I am pretty much still 12, and have two brothers that use the term “sack” to describe man parts, and am still not getting what he’s talking about, I am smirking. I told him I wasn’t sure what he meant. He said, “It’s brown or tan and like a bag you use to carry things.” Oh. Got it now. I have never, ever in my life called a grocery bag a sack, so I am chalking this one up to the local colloquialism schism that I fully expect to develop between my Portland-raised children and Philadelphia-raised Kenny and I. (On a separate note, my mother is probably appalled reading this because, as a nurse, she tried her very best to raise us to always use proper terminology to describe parts of the human anatomy. “Sack” definitely falls short on that one.)
As we shopped, he told me that they decorated sacks last week for Bales to “help people know about Earth Day. Which is today, Mom, in case you didn’t know.” I assured him that I knew it was Earth Day and that he could show me the sacks when we were checking out. I fully expected that I would not be able to find the one he decorated.
We started checking out and he was on his tip-toes looking for the decorated sacks. He spotted them and pointed them out. I told him they looked great. I also said we probably wouldn’t get his, because there are like 12 check out counters and each had a sizeable stack of sacks. (Yes, now he’s got me saying sacks. Dear heavens.)
My favorite part of all this is that when I asked him how school was last Thursday, he said the standard, “Good.” Did you do anything exciting? “No.” But, as soon as he heard we were going to Bales, it all came back to him and the sharing floodgates opened. Apparently, I need to do a better job of engaging him on a day-to-day basis – hahaha!
I happened to glance at the next register over.
Guess what I saw.
“GAVIN” in sloppy-ish, neat-ish Kindergarten scrawl, peeking out from under the first few bags.
Yes. It was his.
How’s that for dumb luck?
He was thrilled that I got his sack.
Happy Earth Day, everyone! 🙂
(P.S. If you like popcorn, seek out Pop Corners – they are AMAZING. You can see our popping out the top of the bag. Popping – see what I did there? Oy.)
Apr 17, 2013 | moments & memories
I have big news!
The kids and I had two dinner dates last week. And I had a lunch date recently, too. It must have gone well, because I was then invited out to dinner.
You know what this means?
Yes. I am finally making friends. (I think. They could have been pity dates for a work widow whose husband is apparently on a family sabbatical, er, I mean business trip for two weeks. Either way, I’ll take it because we had fun. Hahaha. And just kidding, Kenny. I know you work hard and miss being home.)
I’ve said before how terrible I am at making friends, and how awkward it when you are older (see here). It feels so hard to me – kind of like dating. I wasn’t good at that either, so, natch, it’s taken me a year and a half to have Portland friends to hang out with.
Yes – finally making friends after a year and a half – hahaha. Yay, me. I might have set a record with that length of time.
Apr 16, 2013 | life around portland, moving across the country...in stories
This weekend, I missed home.
Yes, I still have regular bouts of homesickness a year and a half in. I think it’s one of those things that I will always experience. Kind of like stress. Haha. But, on a good note, being homesick was only part of why I missed home this time.
The main reason was that I missed Wawa.
I realized on Saturday that I actually have no idea where Oregonians go to get cash since there are no Wawas here. Hahaha. While driving around town, I literally thought to myself, “Where do people go when they need cash?” Hahaha. (This is Kenny’s ‘family management’ area – usually when I need cash, I tell him. And since he was away, and since there are no Wawas, I perceived myself to be in quite a pickle. Hahaha.)
Yes, yes, yes. I know that I can go to a bank, or Target or the grocery store, but all of them seem like a separate errand commitment when you are from Pennsylvania and used to popping into Wawa for some transaction-fee-free cash. Plus, we kept our bank accounts in Pennsylvania…so that’s a mighty far drive to get some transaction-fee-free money.
(Side note for West Coast readers, the beauty of Wawa is that it’s a quick-stop, clean convenience store that has marketed itself partly on the draw of having ATMs that don’t charge fees. Wawas are about as abundant in the Philadelphia area as Starbucks is out here in Portland. Hmmm. I may have just solved this conundrum – maybe the ‘bucks should put fee-free ATMs in their stores. Voila – problem solved and potential profit increases for Starbucks. Going off the notion that you typically always grab something else when stopping in Wawa for cash, I can totally see folks grabbing a latte when then they take out cash at a Starbucks ATM.)
We do have 7-11s out here. And Plaid Pantry. But they are not Wawa. Or a Starbucks with an ATM.
Sigh.
