PORTLAND PICKLE VOL. 1 ISSUE 4

It’s been a while since I put pen to paper, or more accurately fingers to keyboard, so I suppose you are deserving of an update and a few pretty pictures, as I so cavalierly promised in the last edition.  Portland seems to have been the perfect choice for the art/act of recuperation.

LOOKING SOUTH TOWARD THE COSMO

There are three city parks within five blocks of our door, each with its own distinct character.   From our living room window we look out on The Fields Park and the Fremont Bridge.  If you are foolish enough to look it up in Wikipedia you will be informed: The 3.2 acre park consists of a one-acre lawn/common area, sitting areas, a strolling path, entry plaza, Portland Loo restroom, and a large childrns playground.   It is about

FIELDS PARK & CENTNNIAL MILLS

perfect for a morning constitutional and we are by no means the only folk using it as a walking track.  Four laps provides about a mile of walking with benches and dogs and stairs, people to chat with, occasionally the local kindergarten using the play area, and, and, and . . . Certainly beats mall walking, those people are way to serious! 

One block the other direction is Tanner Spring Park, the total antithesis of Fields Park. Tanner Springs Park is quiet and reminiscent of a wetland. If you take the time to examine the reader boards you will discover the intent was to “recreate”, in miniature, what this area may have looked like prior to the industrialization that once characterized the neighborhood. Tanner Creek and a lake, which once ran through the area, exists today as a spring and a

BLUE HERON

stream, running into a pond filled with wild grasses, water lilies, ducks and on occasion a Blue heron. One “wall” of the park is an artsy installation composed of upright railroad ties interspersed with translucent pieces of blue glass. The signs claim the railway ties and the cobbles paving the walk ways are recycled from previous uses in the area. It isn’t the first time I have read about cobbles, which were used as ballast in ships being re-imagined as pavers

TANNER SPRING PARK

for streets and paths. Where Fields Park is busy with dogs and children playing, Tanner Springs is quiet and contemplative with the occasional sound of the streetcar that runs along its perimeter.

11th & LOVEJOY

If you carry on another couple of blocks, following the wooden boardwalk that begins in Fields Park, you will arrive in Jamison Square. At the center of the square is a series of rocks and steps looking, when dry, a bit like a broken wall. Periodically streams of water gush from the rocks creating a sizable pool which attracts local families with children creating a wet and festive playground. Just as randomly as the water drains away leaving damp bricks and impatient children waiting for the return of their manmade tidal pool. This park, much like Tanners Springs, despite being only one square block, offers plenty of diversity.  

JAMISON SQUARE PARK

There are grassy knolls and tree shaded paths with park benches that are reminiscent of a Parisian parks. There are a scattering of picnic benches and the ubiquitous Portland Loo, which the Parks Department is diligent about maintaining.

Enough travelogue. So, how is Mick doing? Initially this was the extent of our rambles, perhaps five blocks (and Portland has short blocks). In point of fact, I think his first venture outdoors was probably 100 yards round trip. It is amazing and disheartening at the same time to realize how much progress he

11th & NORTHRUP

has made, and how much still remains to be accomplished. We are now doing upwards of three plus miles a day (10,000 paces) but put a long upslope or stairs in to the mix and all bets are off. Naps, they feel so decadent and luxurious, (how delightful to have a medical professional encourage you to indulge) are still a big part of the daily regimen.

To look at him you would never know that anything serious had happened. That is unless he takes off his shirt. Oh, my! The scar down the middle of his chest is relatively unobtrusive, the bruises are another story entirely. They are fading to a lovely shade of
blue and yellow, looks as though he got the short end

OVATION - the place for Morrocan Mint Tea

of the stick in a bar fight. The pair of holes on either side of his belly just above his waist are like two beady black eyes staring at you. Guess this is where the drains were “installed”. Sounds a bit like plumbing rather than surgery. Top that off with a shaved chest which is beginning to grow back, he is quite the sight.

CONTAINER SHIP ON THE WILLAMETTE - 3 BLOCKS AWAY

The long and short of it, all systems go. Stamina, the prohibition on reaching over his head, and the necessity of sleeping on his back, are the only obvious outstanding issues from the our current adventure. I, for one, shall be thrilled when he can return to being a side sleeper. The return of quiet to our bedroom (well, except for the garbage trucks outside our window) will be pure heaven.