No. 6

Eryn the librarian went on a book hunt before Christmas and gave me a bunch of fun reads - authors I've enjoyed before, including Diane Mott Davidson.

No. 6 was Catering to Nobody:

A classic culinary mystery where the amateur detective is a caterer. There are a lot of these. And they always make me hungry! 

I whipped through this novel in just a couple days, eager to find out who done it. A pleasant read. Thanks for the Christmas books, Sis! :)

Angel's Rest (1/23/16)

Dan asked if anyone wanted to hike Ruckel Ridge Saturday - "early and fast". After several hours of e-mail conversation, Brad, James and I decided snowy Ruckel Ridge was more than we wanted to bite off. Dan ended up leaving early, early Saturday for Nesmith Point while the rest of us slept in a bit and did a later start on Angel's Rest.

We prepared for rain, but it barely drizzled while we hiked up the short but steep trail. The temp was surprisingly warm, and I was sweating a lot as we kept a quick pace!

Despite the rain forecast, the trail was very busy. We had fun people watching :)

We came out on top to a good view:

The wind was calm at the summit, and fog moved in and out while we took pics and ate a little snack.

Brad took pictures for this group - then they took some of us:

All smiles:

It was so great to catch up with James - and to get out in the woods! 

Hoping for lots more adventure in the near future :)

Muddy fun

Lindsey allowed me to again take her out to the woods for a muddy sweat session this afternoon!

We ran/hiked just under 4 miles on Forest Park's Wildwood Trail and Firelane 15. She was zooming!!

We reached Skyline Road and spotted this coyote saunter across the street and behind some houses:

She's a keeper for sure!

We were muddier than this shows:

The big reason for the trip to Forest Park was Brad's maiden voyage on his new birthday mountain bike. Here he comes:

Happy boy!

WHOA! That's muddy boy!

He says it's awesome!! Can't wait to go out again :)

No. 5

No. 5 was The Bomb by Theodore Taylor:

I grabbed this older book off the cart of library discards. There's nothing wrong with these books - they're just older and aren't getting checked out, so Eryn's clearing shelf space.

The Bomb is historical fiction about Sorry, a boy living in Bikini Atoll during World War II. After the "successful" bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the U.S. chose Bikini Atoll for further atomic bomb research. They relocated the natives, including Sorry and his family, and then destroyed their island homes.

This is a beautiful telling of life on the Northern Marshall Islands and a horrifying account of the takeover and relocation by the American military.

While this book was intended for a younger audience, I still found it well-written and a wonderfully told story. I'm now fascinated by the events of the time. I also have many students from the South Pacific, included the Marshall Islands. I'm interested to speak with them and see what they know of these events.

I did an internet search to see how much was fiction and how much was reality. Apparently, aside from Sorry himself, this seems to be a fairly historically accurate book. I would highly recommend this read - and also following up with this Web site for more historical and present-day information on the impact of the U.S. decision to take over and blow up their land, nearly wiping out the people.

BikiniAtoll.com

No. 4

I really like this author!

No. 4 was Sue Henry's Beneath the Ashes. It's set in Alaska with a musher main character. I like Henry's writing style! She includes lots of details, but it's not wordy - just the right amount. And the mysteries are good, keeping me guessing until the end.

I'm heading to Alaska for the first time this summer, so I've especially enjoyed learning about the culture that's so different from here.

:)

Lunch beauty

Another beautiful, rainy lunchtime walk in Cook Park:

:)

Frigid Tilikum Crossing

I'm really behind on my postings because of a "fun" computer issue we're having at home. Our brand-new computer has died :(

Anyway...

Portland's new Tilikum Crossing has been on our to-do list since it opened this fall. We decided winter break was the perfect time to do a mid-day run downtown and check it out. Because of weather and such, we picked Saturday Jan. 2. It was COLD and windy - but beautiful!

We parked by the Portland Opera building and jumped right on the bridge.

It was nice - and pretty! The markings/signs were a bit confusing for first-time visitors, but we figured it out. Because it's not a draw bridge, there's a fairly steep incline that I wasn't expecting. Also, the railings cantilever over the river a bit, and it was a little trippy on my eyes/mind as we ran next to the edge.

My bladder was talking to me, so I ducked into the newish OHSU building on the west end of the bridge. I'd never been inside... it's nice! They had a huge bathroom and a Starbucks (if we were so inclined) and a drinking fountain with a bottle filler. Good to know that's available for future downtown adventures :)

We ran north to the Steel Bridge and back on the Eastbank Esplanade. BRRRRR!!!!!

Couldn't stop too long because the cold set in fast!

I love the starkness of winter.

There's that pretty bridge:

Behind OMSI:

That loop was just about 4 miles - a nice run for a very, very cold day. (The snow/ice storm hit that night, if you remember!)

Looking forward to more Tilikum Crossing runs :)