THE JACKSONVILLE HISTORIC CEMETERY

We visited this fascinating cemetery here in Jacksonville, which included many graves almost 200 years old, including a "pauper" section. The landscape shot is taken from the edge of the cemetery. Looks very much like New England.

VACATIONING IN SOUTHERN OREGON!

I had last week off for fall break at the University of Portland. Kent and I took advantage of the opportunity to visit my cousin Sue and her husband Dave in Jacksonville, a historic gold-rush era town just outside Medford. Pictured here is their rental home, and portraits of us while on a walk. The entire area was quite beautiful, especially Ashland and the wine country/organic farm area between there and Grants Pass. We took a guided tour of the Shakespeare Festival area in Ashland, where they stage hundreds of performances every year.

We went to a movie one night in Ashland -- "Departures," a Japanese film that won the Academy Award this year for best foreign film. It's easy to see why. It tells the strange story of a cellist who loses his job and becomes an undertaker. Sounds macabre, but it's not. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sue and Dave are enjoying their new retired life and have a 20-month lease in this almost Disney-esque housing development in Jacksonville. New construction here must comply with strict codes because of the historic designation of the town, so their neighborhood is filled with homes of a sort of Victorian/Arts and Crafts style.

A DAY DOWNTOWN WITH ALEX

Alex got a rare day off from her feisty 2-1/2-year-old son yesterday when her friend's husband offered to take Truman for awhile. We stopped at the University of Portland to investigate possible accounting degree programs for Alex, ate scrumptious Reuben sandwiches at a Jewish deli, and browsed around Powell's Bookstore, one of the largest bookstores in the country. It occupies an old warehouse of an entire square block in the heart of downtown. We ended the trip with coffee and cupcakes at the bookstore coffee shop. I believe the statistics show that Portlanders read more books than anywhere else in the country. Maybe it's all that rain.

I'm able to travel downtown on the light rail, which I catch about 5 blocks from my house. It's also free, as is all public transportation within downtown.

A PUBLIC POLITICAL STATEMENT

This handcrafted message was NOT in someone's front yard. In case you can't read it, someone had written "the GOP" beneath the "Stop" message. Well, it is Portland, after all, where there are more Priuses than Ford trucks.

A WALK THROUGH MY HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEIGHBORHOOD

These photos represent some of the quirkiness I was talking about in an earlier entry. Portlanders like to display their creativity, their politics or their passions in front of their homes.

A WALKING TRIP DOWNTOWN

Since it was such a beautiful day and I have the week off from work, I decided to walk downtown -- took less than a half-hour from our rental house. My first stop after crossing the Broadway Bridge was this gorgeous vintage train station. Nik took the train from here a few weeks ago to return to school in Olympia. The fare was $29. Not bad.

FALL COLORS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

As I walked around today, I noticed that the reds and oranges are dominant -- not nearly as many yellow shades as in Minnesota. They're almost glowing, they're so bright. The weather, however, is still almost summery here. The high today was 65.

TRUMAN AND AUNTIE STEPH IN MANZANITA

TRUMAN'S FAVORITE SPOT IN THE HORSEY HOUSE

MAKING RAVIOLI IN MANZANITA

While Kent and Steph did the puzzle (kitties in cowboy boots), Norris and John Douglass and I made three kinds of ravioli: fresh crabmeat, squash with fresh sage and sausage. It took awhile (about a bottle of wine's worth of time), but the result was impressive.

MANZANITA REDUX

We all converged on the "Horsey House" again during Steph and Doug's visit. Steph and Kent spent an evening finishing a 500-word puzzle.

KENT'S GOURMET BREAKFAST

Kent gets tired of all my food blog entries, so he wanted to put in his two cents' worth. Here's his preferred breakfast: Quaker original instant oatmeal, Sunmaid golden raisins, Diamond walnuts and 2% milk. Elegant!

A CREATIVE VARIATION ON CAPRESE SALAD

Norris came up with this recipe from somewhere: alternate slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh peaches and fresh mint. Top with olive oil and lemon juice. Elegantly simple and a delicious way to use those many pounds of peaches in season right now.

TRUMAN THE TURTLE MAN

Thanks to Uncle Nik's crafty garage sale shopping, Truman is now the proud owner of a vintage turtle costume, lovingly hand-made by an elementary school teacher. He doesn't seem to move as slowly as a turtle, but he still likes it.

MY CLASSROOM AT UP

This is the nicest computer classroom I've ever used. The horseshoe-shaped tables and beautiful new Apple flat-screen computers make it easy to see everyone and easy for them to see the front of the room when I use the big screen for videos, PowerPoints, etc. We also get free daily editions of the New York Times and The Oregonian, available in racks just outside my classroom. The students are pretty delightful and the atmosphere on campus is very caring. Another great benefit is the food. The faculty dining room offers all-you-can-eat $5 lunches that are amazing. Every day, there's at least 3 entrees and 3 side dishes, a full salad bar, and 4-5 excellent desserts, along with fresh fruit, ice cream, coffee and other beverages. I've enjoyed fresh ocean fish prepared to order, fresh jumbo shrimp sauteed in a lemon sauce, blueberry or roasted peach vinaigrette for salads, chocolate cheesecake, cheese ravioli with sage cream sauce, homegrown heirloom tomatoes, chocolate-dipped strawberries, etc. If any of you comes out to visit, I need to take you for a visit!

BICYCLE PRIVILEGES

I love these signs! Nik is not all that impressed with Portland's bicycle system, but I think they're light years ahead of any other place in America. He does admit that the fact that there are so many people on bikes makes it a better environment for serious (and not so serious) bikers. As to me and my biking, it will be awhile before I get back on one. My arm still needs special care (it's only been two weeks) and the fall put my back out pretty badly. But I can walk just fine, and I'm enjoying the fall colors immensely.

JUNGLE HOMES

These three photos illustrate my point about weird artistic landscaping. Two of the three are definitely way beyond your expanse of green lawn that so many strive for in the Midwest. But the third represents what happens when that instinct is out of control. I was able to get a photo actually showing the house behind all the foliage from the side. I've seen hundreds of homes like this. This is a lush northern rain forest landscape, and one summer neglect or even an overly ambitious planting program in one's yard results in a return to the jungle.

PORTLAND'S "WEIRD" OBSESSION

You see this bumper sticker all over, including on people's laptops in coffee shops: "Keep Portland Weird." And, indeed, it is, and struggling to remain so in an age of homogenized, corporatized reality. I'd say it's doing a pretty good job. It's hard to put in words, but I'll try with the help of a few photos as time goes on. One of the things I notice is how so many people express themselves artistically, which often ends up weird, like the guy in Centralia with the yard art. So many things are over-the-top, including their landscaping; their counter-culture styles of clothing, music, film; their public art. It's clear that people have fun with this expressiveness, and the power structure seems to have an appreciation for it -- a tolerance that's beyond the Midwest, but it doesn't feel as self-indulgent as California.

MY X-RATED BROKEN ARM

HEALED ENOUGH TO TYPE

I know it's been awhile since I apprised you of the great bike accident. As you can imagine, I haven't posted since then because a) I've been overwhelmed with fatigue, especially when it takes me so much longer to do my daily tasks, and b) because I could type only with my right hand. But things have improved.

After spending 10 days with my arm in a splint and sling, I was finally able to see an orthopedist. He looked at at the x-rays and determined that the bone would heal with or without a cast if I were careful with my arm. Furthermore, a cast would keep me from regaining full mobility of my arm. I told him I loved him for the good news!

What I actually had was a hairline fracture in a bone right where it attaches to my elbow. That makes sense, especially since all my weight landed on that spot when I fell off my bike. Perhaps I'd better back up a minute and explain the accident. I'd ridden all the way to work and was just about to get off my bike at a bike rack near my office. My front tire slipped off the sidewalk onto some wood chips surrounding a huge tree. I tried to just get back on the sidewalk, but the dip was deeper than I thought and my bike and I fell over to my left onto the sidewalk. It hurt.

I immediately saw stars and thought I was going to pass out. But I sat there for awhile (many people kindly offered to help) and eventually was able to get up. That was about 2:00. I then taught a 90-minute class until 4 p.m., waited until 7 p.m. and taught a 3-hour class. I walked around for 3 days before I thought I should go to a doctor. My arm started turning black and blue and I couldn't extend it all the way. (I still can't.)

At this point, the worst of it is how sore I am all over from the fall. My back hurts more than my arm, but I'm extremely grateful that it wasn't worse, that Kent has been kind enough to drive me to work and that I didn't have to endure a cast for six weeks. I go back to the doctor in another week for new x-rays to see how it's healing. Thanks to everyone who wrote messages of sympathy and encouragement to me.

DINNER AT NORRIS AND ALEX'S

Fresh walleye fried in cracker crumbs
Caper mayo
Fresh grilled oysters
Roasted chipotles
Sauteed harvest veggies with basil, garlic and onion
Fingerling potatoes

Yum!

THE BICYCLE EVENT

Well, the bad news is that I broke my arm falling off my bike. The good news? At least it's my left. I had ridden 5.5 miles to campus and fell over just as I was about to park the bike. Slid off the edge of the sidewalk and fell over on my arm. Walked around for three days before suspecting a break -- thought it was a sprain. Can't type easily. Will write more later.

Steph and Doug are here for the week. Nik just went back to Evergreen after spending the weekend with us. It was so nice having so many of us here.

I'll get someone to type for me tomorrow. Life is weird for sure!