THIS IS WHAT WE CAME HOME TO!!!!

TAKE ME BACK TO PORTLAND!!!!

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN

Well, unfortunately, the day finally came for me to fly back to Bemidji after this magical fall season in Portland. It will be hard to leave my UP students, my new colleagues and, of course, the #1 Grandson and his parents. But it will be good to see the Minnesota family and friends again. It's been quite an adventure and I look forward to my next trip out here. But for now, I need to pack my bags, clean my rental house and say good-bye.

MR. T VISITS SANTA

Kent and I took Truman to the Lloyd Center Mall to see Santa. He was a champ! He walked right up to Santa himself, got on his lap and told him (with his head bowed) that he wanted some toy called a Mighty Mac. (I think it's a train that's part of the Thomas the Train series.) Unfortunately, they had a rather punitive policy of not letting people take photos and they charged $20 for their photos. So Kent had to take photos from a hiding spot. This was the best he could do. This was an impressive Santa -- his beard was even real. He was very kind to Truman, and gave him a sucker. Thanks, Santa!

GUEST SPEAKER FOR REPORTING CLASS: CORNELIUS SWART

My afternoon reporting class had the privilege of hearing from another impressive journalist. Cornelius Swart is the editor and publisher of The Sentinel, a monthly newspaper serving North and parts of Northeast Portland. It's a diverse are of the city that has gone through a painful past when it was the only area of the city where African-Americans could live in to now when it's becoming gentrified. He is filled with passion, wisdom and stories. Lots of stories. He actually has a degree in filmmaking, and has done a documentary film on the neighborhood. The paper is has a circulation of 26,000 and it's in multimedia format online also. Cornelius is involved in an important project called the Portland Media Lab. Here's what it says on their Website: "Over the past six months Portland Media Lab has conducted a series of in- person, online, and group discussions and “salons” aimed at developing a needs-assessment study for the “journalist community” in the Portland, Ore. media market. The following projects represent services, resources and support that PML believes the media market needs in order to sustain robust public-benefit reporting and journalism."

GUEST SPEAKER FOR MY REPORTING CLASS: JULIE SULLIVAN

Julie Sullivan, a Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter with The Oregonian, was kind enough to speak to my morning writing and reporting class. She not only had wonderful advice about how to be a good reporter and writer, but she had a very dramatic life story herself. She told us about growing up in Butte, Montana, which boasts the most polluted Superfund site on earth, due to now-defunct copper mines. She also was involved in a terrible car accident while a young college student. She almost died; her legs were crushed and her nose needed to be reconstructed. (She looks fine now and walks normally.)

She was very passionate about giving people time to tell their stories when you interview them. It's about respect. She told us all about people telling her about growing up in state institutions and being forcibly sterilized and how important it was to report those experiences. It's the job of a journalist to be a witness, she said. Societies need people who see. These days, Julie covers veterans issues and their families.

MY PHYSICAL THERAPY ENDS -- AT LAST!

You may remember that I fell of my bicycle and broke my elbow about the first of October. Here it is the first of December, and I've completed about 10 physical therapy sessions with my buddy Doug at Rebound Orthopedic Physical Therapy, located in the Rose Center (home of the Trailblazers). He was very patient and helped me go from about 50% use of my left arm to 90%. It may never be perfect, but it will work just fine. His colleague, Mark, takes measurements of my improved condition for the report to my doctor. Many thanks to Doug and Mark!

MR. T'S FIRST HAIRCUT: AGE 2 YEARS, 10 MOS.

This place was amazing. Little Clippers had it all -- playhouses, vehicles, a video list longer than Blockbuster, a recumbent hair-washing bed. Truman freaked out when Alex tried to deposit him in a Steve McQueen race car for his cut. He ended up sitting on her lap and watched "The Brave Little Toaster" while St. Melissa did a great job of cutting off his beautiful blonde locks. Good boy, Truman!