My Run

We were running through the forest.

In Forest Park. Portland's Forest Park is the largest wooded city park in the United States. With a 40-mile loop, there's a trail for every level: from walkers to runners. And there's something for everyone to see.


It wasn't a fast run but maybe if I show you a few photos, you might understand.

When you're running with a crew, you have to take a little more time and just enjoy the journey.

Not all the girls run at the same pace but it was a beautiful trail - although it had leaves all over the path, which made us slow down even more (slippery - so we had a good excuse).

Still, it was a beautiful morning on the Leif Eriksen trail.

ZOMBIES ARE THE HOTTEST

Zombies are hot right now. So for a green Halloween, why not go as a zombie? It's super simple to gear up for the apocalyptic aftermath and Halloween is the perfect time to get ready.

So, how do you zombify yourself?

Just add a couple spiders to your clothes, hair, and head. Use a little white face makeup and some black eyeliner for dark shadows (okay anyone who's as old as me knows about Dark Shadows and Barnabus Collins--I guess BC was my first fanpire love ;) but I digress)... So, some black eyeliner, white pancake makeup and some spiders.

How much simpler could a costume be? Plus, it will be a Green Theme Halloween costume ;)

I'll post some zombie photos this weekend to hell...p inspire you to new zombie heights, after I Run Like Hell - as a zombified old lady in the 10k Halloween Themed run here in Portland, Oregon.

Eastbank Esplanade Bikeride in Portland, Oregon

If you're ever in Portland and you want to see the city from a bike, here's the way to do it. You can start at the Fire Station at S.E. Madison and S.E. Water Avenues. It's the beginning of a great bike ride on the Eastbank Esplanade
The Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon, is a beautiful walking/bike riding route that runs around the city. (Turn down the sound if you don't want to hear the wind).

You can ride your bike past OMSI and hop onto the Springwater Corridor. It's a comfortable, flat terrain ride that allows you to see the city from your bike without any cars.

Well . . . there's one small spot where you have to travel on the roads/streets of Portland to make a connection from the Esplanade to the Springwater Corridor. But, it's not a very busy strip. Here's what that connection looks like:


You'll find plenty of parking on the east side. Just park on Madison and then ride your bike to the Fire station and this is what you'll see.



Then you'll ride past OMSI


Continue on the Springwater Corridor for about three miles, until you reach Oaks Bottom and you can ride right up to the entrance of Oaks Park.

This is that 3 mile ride:



So, if you visit Portland, Oregon, this is one way to see the city sights without spending any money.

Tulip Tuesday

Saturday we went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, Oregon.


Besides beautiful flowers, they have face painting, bungee hopping for kids, great food and way-way more. We saw steam engines

Then we walked the fields, shared an ice cream cone, bought flowers for the house and enjoyed the sunshine.

It was a wonderful way to spend a weekend.

Magical City Lights

WANNA FIGHT?

Well, if you're a writer you should want to - or at least have a lot of conflict. That's what makes a story interesting.

Tuesday night I went to Willamette Writer's mini-seminar at the Old Church in downtown Portland to listen to Elizabeth Engstrom talk about the structure of a good story. She said that we want to live vicariously when we read. Most of us have calm lives but that's not what we want to experience when we read. So, as writers, we need to provide some excitement for the reader. Let them live through our characters. And they have to connect with them too.

So, we need to create a world of conflict and then amplify it even more. Now, I'm off to my WIP to ratchet up the conflict. I have to tell myself I wanna fight.

Earth-Friendly Friday

Recycling is up, garbage is down - at least in Portland, Oregon.

The city uses blue and green roll carts that are used to collect unsorted recyclables. Now, with this one simple change, which makes recycling easier, Portlanders are recycling and composting more. For example, since last year recycling and yard debris material increased by 14 percent which is the equivalent of 10,000 tons or 20,000 pounds. Not bad for one year.

This one change helped residential garbage decrease by almost nine percent or 9,000 tons - which is 18,000 pounds of garbage that isn't going into the landfills.

Overall, the city says that Portland's households and businesses are recycling and composting 67 percent of the waste that they generate. The goal is to stop growth in the waste stream and raise recycling to 75% by 2015. This is one way to reach that goal.

Plus, if you're looking for some green gifts, check out this site: www.ecometro.com.

COME BY THE HILLS - CELTIC THUNDER

CELTIC THUNDER IS COMING to the Rose Garden

November 12th at 8:00 p.m. (If you're interested, check it out here.)

Scan Fair in Astoria, Oregon

Sunday was Father's Day. My husband was born in Denmark. He didn't become a U.S. Citizen until his senior year in high school. So, he wanted to go to the Scan Fair and, like I said, it was Father's Day. So off to Astoria we went.

David Strand from Silverton, Oregon was whittling wooden shoes for the crowd. He let me take a turn.


Then we moved on to find recycled pop cans made into garden art. These airplanes and roadrunners were made out of used soda cans. How cool is that?...




How did you spend Father's Day? (Add to comments)

GLOOM AND DOOM - In the Same Sentence as POWELL'S BOOKS???

Here's an article in the New York Times that talks all gloom and doom but I couldn't help but love it anyway--why? Because it talks about Powell's Books, which just happens to be one of my favorite hangouts and Portland too. Plus it plugs Intel and Nike. And, okay, Nike is in a suburb of Portland but close enough.

Portland, Oregon (Is it P.O. or BO 'cause that just stinks)

Thought for Thursday: What ski area is the highest in the United States?

Come back tomorrow to find out the answer. But first, take a guess.


And now, this is one of those things that makes you say, "HUH?"

I told you all how Portland is one of the top ten places in the country where you can walk around the city, well now they say Portland is the unhappiest place on Earth, according to Business Week. Huh???

How can this be? We have the riverwalk, the Esplanade. Portland is beautiful, an hour to the snow covered mountain, Mt. Hood, one and a half hours to the beach, 2 and a half hours to the desert, and we are smack-dab in the valley, with the Gorge being famous for windsurfing. How can anyone be unhappy here?

Laurelhurst Park in Portland Oregon

There are so many parks in Portland - it's unbelievable. Within walking distance of my home is Mt. Tabor Park, Laurelhurst Park, Normandale Park and probably a few others.

Last Saturday was such a beautiful day we decided to take the dogs to the park to play.

Here are a few photos from our walk.

Portland, Oregon in the Fall

Portland, Oregon (the home of Powell's Books) is one of the prettiest places in the Pacific Northwest. Of course we tell people it rains all the time - to keep them from moving here ;-)

Actually, it rains in Seattle a whole lot more. Plus, Seattle seems to always have gray clouds hanging over head. And, I love Seattle.

But Portland is only an hour from the Mountains and some amazing winter sports. Mt. Hood is about 50 minutes away and offers so many ski resorts I couldn't name them all. But a few of the best known are Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood Meadows and Ski Bowl.

Then travel an hour and a half the other direction and you'll be at the ocean.

Still, it's about two hours to the high desert, and we live smack dab in the middle of the valley.

Oh, and the Gorge, is right down the road, (hwy 84), which offers some of the best windsurfing in the world.

And Portland is the home to Forest Park, which covers over 5000 acres and is the largest city park in the country.

Only about 5 minutes from downtown Portland, Forest Park offers a 40-mile loop trail system.

And then there is still Washington Park and the Rose Gardens to see and the Japanese Gardens, and . . . there is just too much to cover it all in one blog post.

With all this to offer, it couldn't be any prettier. Plus, a river runs through it.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Just look at these photos, which I took from inside my office.

THE SHACK By William P. Young

My husband and I went to listen to William P. Young give a lecture at Warner Pacific College, here in Portland, Oregon Monday night.

I raised my hand and told the author that I felt the book was really two stories rolled up into one book and I asked him if he wrote it that way intentionally or if he wrote it in bits and pieces. He said, he started the book because his wife, Kim, wanted him to write something down that he could give to his children. He intended the story to be that gift to his kids for Christmas. And originally he went to Office Depot and printed out fifteen copies for his family and friends, never intending it to go any further than that. Today, The Shack has sold over 4 million copies.

He answered my question by saying that he started out by writing the conversations, as questions he wanted to ask as a child but was never allowed to ask.

He was warm and funny but even more. He was Real. He spoke from his heart about difficult subjects and he had the audience on the edge of their seat for the nearly two hours he shared his story with us.

Here is a short clip of him talking about growing up in Boring, Oregon. Yes, there is a place in Oregon that is truly Boring.