New Year's Day
We were invited to a New Year's Day dinner at our friends Josh and Susan's home. They bought the old grange meeting hall down the road which had been abandoned and very run-down. They have turned it into a modern, comfortable home which looks out over a large pasture where elk often graze.
Susan, front left, was a sailmaker in the Bay Area who even made sails for some America's Cup racing yachts. She still uses her industrial sewing equipment at the house for various customers. Back left is author Andrea Scharf who also started the Portland farmer's market and Yachats View the Future. On the right is Jim Adler, blacksmith, who with his wife Ursula, ceramicist, purple sweater, were the first two locals that befriended us when we moved here.
Colorado Trip
On January 3rd, I flew back to Colorado to celebrate the holidays with Andria's family. Nick and Elaine came back, also. We shared an Airbnb which worked out nicely. Traveling after the Christmas rush was also more relaxed and cheaper, too.
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Nick, Jeremy, and I took an afternoon hike on our last day despite the cold.
2 comments:
Hey Uncle Bob,
I'd love to hear your thoughts about There There if you've finished it. I read it when I was living in Oakland and appreciated the new perspectives it gave me on the city.
- Logan
Hi Logan! There There to me was a gritty, no rose colored glasses novel from an author who obviously grew up immersed in Oakland's Native culture. I had never really thought about what it is like to be Native living in a big city. It seemed like there is this dichotomy of trying to experience one's roots and respect the old ways, which are very foreign to younger Natives, but also being caught up in a vicious circle of societal problems that can pit Natives against each other. There was a surprising connection between the Natives in Oakland, good and bad. This Naitve community seems to go unnoticed by the rest of Oakland. There are examples of caring and loyalty among family members, but the difficulty of obtaining jobs and basic housing makes drugs, alcohol, and petty crime too inviting. I thought the ending was over the top, but I guess it has major significance to the overall story. Logan, I would like to hear what you took away from this novel, having lived there.
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