Today, LJ and I took our lunch break at the Wednesday downtown farmer’s market for Tastebud’s amazing salads. Next week is the last week of the 2009 season. I’ll miss the market November-April, and especially the salad. They have a restaurant now, and I’ve been once. They do oven roasted vegetables, but I don’t recall seeing the salad on their menu.

On our walk back we encountered a shower of falling leaves. They had already covered the ground and the benches.

Bonzi and I just returned from our first walk of the new year and the rain was constant enough that he had to shake it off half way through just to allow for more to soak into his fur. This being Portland we did still manage to find another dog and owner at our local park playing fetch.

Now that I’m back at home I’m going to make a couple of quick breads to bring over to our friends that are making New Year’s Day meals. I continue to be delighted at how many of my non-Southern friends have picked up the tradition of black-eyed peas and greens. I’ll just say right now, I have the greatest friends. For that and so much more I am grateful.

May 2009 brings us all peace, joy, love and happiness!

Bonzi has the post-Christmas blues

Tomorrow it is time to head back to the office. Between work travel, our unprecedented weather and the holidays I’ve actually only been in the office nine days so far this month. I’m not sure I even had the six days of vacation required by our snow days and the university closing on the Friday after Christmas.

In fact, my entire holiday plans changed to accommodate the 12+ inches of snow that hit Portland. Shopping for gifts was either completed online or not at all. The trip to spend Christmas with Craig’s parents was canceled, as was Teresa’s trip to Portland to meet us for the ride to Yakima.

That said, it was a nice change of perspective, and while I didn’t write my novel, or pursue any great creative feat besides rearranging the baking dry goods, I did read a couple of books, watch several videos and spend some time with my Portland friends…and eventually (once he was able to dig the rental car out of his mom’s apartment parking lot with a baking sheet) my good friend from Chicago, Steve.

To get a sense of the scenery, here are some of the pictures we took on Saturday, December 20th when Craig and I walked from our house to Hawthorne and back home.

The worst snow came between Saturday and Monday. On Tuesday, December 22nd we knew we wouldn’t be going to Yakima and Teresa wouldn’t be flying to Portland, so we ventured out to get groceries and videos.

A car buried under the snow at SE MLK & SE Stark

A snowman waits for the bus.

If the side of the conversation I was hearing while I took this photo was any indication, it was going to be a long wait. A bus driver was at the stop next to me, and was on the phone with what could have been dispatch, letting them know he had been waiting for nearly an hour, and still the bus he was scheduled to meet had not arrived.