Mr. Man

A Budding Aerialist

2012-01-03T23:04:00.000-08:00

Mr. Man went to a winter break camp that teaches kids to be aerialists and practice circus arts. He LOVED it, even though he grumbled about being the oldest kid in the camp. At the end of the week, he did a performance.

He started the show by effortlessly and slowly walking on this tube, juggling two fabric scarves. He never lost his balance at all. You should ask his other mother to upload the video.

Then he did a routine on the cube, with other children gradually joining him.

The tumbling portion included him very confidently doing a headstand.

There were pyramids (although I did worry about the little kids under his 75 pounds!) and other human formations.

Then came the trapeze acts! Coordinated to music! What I didn't capture was a cool move where he inverted his body high on the trapeze so he was upside down and held his legs out in front of him. Powerful core strength!

The show ended with each child doing individual acts. Mr. Man balanced an upside down stilt in his palm.

Mr. Man is very interested in continuing and is taking a class in the winter term with kids his age and older. When we went to enroll him, they told us he should start with Level 2 because he's very strong and agile. That's our boy.

Time to install the pull-up bar Santa brought him.

Morning Wedding in the Gorge

2011-08-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

Lovely friends of our were wed at the top of the Columbia Gorge on a glorious Saturday morning. Beautiful family photo opportunities!

After the wedding ceremony, everyone got on their bicycles and cruised down a several mile hill to the bottom of the gorge to the waterfalls. The bride and groom led the way on their tandem. Mr. Man and I had an amazing ride down through beautiful lush forests and curvy, curvy roads.

At the bottom of course, were climbing opportunities.

See if you can find the speck that is Mr. Man!

26 Mile Ride

2011-07-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man and I did our first 26 mile ride to benefit diabetes research. The ride was in the hilly rural community to our west. We had beautiful sunny weather and a wonderful ride. The hard climbs all happened at the beginning and Mr. Man and I powered through them.

At the rest stop just six miles before the finish line, he took a photo opp to make a watermelon frown in front of the Oreo cookies.

Here we are, smiling after 20 miles! Love Mr. Man's helmet-head!

Animation at OMSI

2011-07-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

One of Mr. Man's favorite summer camps is clay animation. This summer was his third year. Here are the recent additions to his clay characters.

Climbing inside the OMSI O is necessary at the end of camp!

At the Sea

2011-05-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

The Oregon coast is one of Mr. Man's favorite places to be.

Four Eyes for Reading

2011-05-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man got reading glasses. He was not happy to show them off...

By the Numbers

2011-05-03T14:13:00.001-07:00

Mr. Man went to the doctor recently for his "well-child visit." Naturally, he had a cold that day. Nevertheless, at the end of the appointment the nurse handed me a tiny scrap of paper with the following information. I suppose I am meant to put this in his scrapbook. Accordingly:

Height: 55.5 inches (That's 4 feet 7.5 inches, meaning he is now taller than his Nana and soon will be taller than his Aunt.)
Weight: 76 lbs

He's more small-person-sized than child-sized now. He's fantastic.

World News Today

2011-05-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

This morning I told Mr. Man that while he was sleeping, President Obama had announced that Osama bin Laden was dead, killed during a raid of his secret compound by US troops. He asked a few questions but mostly just accepted the information quietly before asking for his daily briefing on the war in Libya which has been occupying his attention as of late.

Tonight, as we snuggled on the couch, he asked me what I thought about bin Laden being killed. I said I had been thinking about it a lot during the day and we discussed some of my reaction and the realities of the situation. Mr. Man related that a child in his class had announced Osama bin Laden's death to the class this morning and "everyone cheered but mostly I just felt sad."

Stunt Videos

2011-04-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

New Decade, New Bike

2011-04-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

Cousin Time!

2011-01-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

A recent trip to the great city to our north allowed Mr. Man to spend time with his 2 year-old cousin.

There was swinging.

And hat switching.

There was the kiddy motor car.

There was time spent by the fire. And later another fire complete with marshmallow roasting.

There was time spent snuggling, watching Mary Poppins.

There was bedtime story reading.

There was hand-holding and posing at the aquarium.

There was frustration with picture taking, complete with fishy face paint.

Yule Tree

2010-12-16T05:06:00.000-08:00

Since we are not traveling over the holidays this year, we took the opportunity to get a living yule tree. There's a small business here that delivers potted trees to your house and then picks them up after the holidays to be planted.

Our tree came yesterday and we quickly got around to decorating. Since we don't generally have a yule tree, we don't actually have many decorations. However, that didn't stop Mr. Man from making lego ornaments.

We can't be the only family with Yoda on their holiday tree, right?

He quickly got his presents from his hiding places and put them under the tree.

The Dark Lord

2010-11-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

At the last minute, Mr. Man decided he wanted to go Trick or Treating on Halloween Night. Given his Star Wars fanaticism, it wasn't surprising when he quickly mocked up an impressive costume, complete with makeup he did entirely himself.

Off to Camp

2010-10-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

In October Mr. Man had his first long trip away from home with his elementary class. He went to Opal Creek for four days and three nights for an intense outdoor educational adventure.

He seemed ambivalent about the trip in the weeks leading up to it, but on the morning of departure, he was ready to go!

There was plenty of time for photo ops with friends as we waited for the bus to arrive to take the kids on the 2-hour drive.

There was much cheering as the tour bus pulled into the parking lot!

The three nights without him seemed so long! By the second night it was hard to adapt to the fact he wasn't coming home.

When we picked him up on Friday, we hugged him and asked him how it was. In a very exasperated voice, he said, "They only fed us three times a day!"

We've heard many stories from him about camp after the fact and these are the things he enjoyed:

Tending a wood stove in your cabin is really cool. He was apparently the expert fire tender for his cabin. He's convinced we need one in the house we haven't yet bought.

His entire class could not link arms around a 2000 year old tree. He's amazed by the idea that the ancient trees have been around since Roman times.

Playing poker is fun. He and the boys in his cabin (18 of them) played poker at rec time, in the evening until lights out at 10pm and from 5-7am in the morning. As you can imagine, there was a lot of Lady Gaga "Pokerface" being sung.

Despite waterproof boots, it's still possible to walk in the river and get your feet totally soaked. When we picked him up his feet were all wrinkly from being wet and we imagine they were like that most of the week.

He saw the remains of the old mine that used to exist on the property and enjoyed going inside.

We thought he'd be tired from a long week of wilderness education, but alas, when asked what he wanted to do he opted to go to Multnomah Falls.

We started at the Vista House, which overlooks the Columbia Gorge:

He dorked around in an old rotted out tree:

We saw beautiful waterfalls:

We drove back home and piled our tired boy into bed.

Multnomah Falls on a Hot Day

2010-08-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

We got in a car, turned on the air conditioning and got out of town today. We moved to the Pacific Northwest so we wouldn't be hot. Late in the day, when we were grumpy and hot, we drove the 30 minutes to Multnomah Falls, where a waterfall cascades down a sheer rock face. Welcome to the Columbia Gorge.

A quarter mile up a switchback trail is an observation bridge. If you hike a mile up you can get to the top, but Mama was not up for that in flip flops.

This is the view looking up from the observation bridge.

This is the view looking down from the observation bridge.

A snow cone was required, of course.

As was a self portrait in which Mr. Man doesn't smile.

Getting our toes wet in the shallow river at the bottom was essential.

No, he's not pooping in the river. He's sitting on a big rock in the middle of the current.

He was a much mellower kid--at least for a few moments.

Until a freight train came barreling down the tracks and over an exposed bridge that you could look up through. Mr. Man is the orange dot. He's standing under the bridge with his hands over his ears.

Lower Elementary Graduation

2010-06-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

The last day of school culminated with graduation ceremonies. First we went out to dinner and gave Tighe a present (Settlers of Cataan).

This is getting ready for the ceremony by playing on the playground.

This is the graduation ceremony. His teacher said lovely things about each student. After her remarks to each student, the student was given a lei and he or she shared with the audience one thing they would miss about lower elementary. Here's Mr. Man on stage getting introduced and what he said. (sorry the video is sideways).

Here is Mr. Man with his lower elementary teacher. Two beautiful souls.

Blue Sash Test

2010-04-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

On April 24th, Mr. Man tested for his blue sash in Poekoelan Tjiminde Tulen. His test lasted three-and-a-half hours.

The 9th Birthday Party

2010-04-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

A few days after the actual birthday, Mr. Man had an all-day boy bash! The first course was a lovely fruit platter and pancakes. Notice the dinner table contains legos for all the boys.

Movie time with roasted chickpeas!

Lego building!

No boy-bash is complete without light saber duels!

No birthday cake at this party. Whiffies Fried Pies for these boys! A Portland gem. Some boys have double chocolate pie, others have cherry pie.

Mr. Man, of course, had double chocolate!

The Actual 9th Birthday

2010-04-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man turned 9 on April 6th. After school, he had his birthday dinner, which consisted of his favorites: tofu bacon and homemade pierogies.

And of course there was cake! Notice he licked the beater clean of all icing remnants.

His massive lego present came wrapped in toilet paper!

Star Wars Clone Wars Continued

2010-03-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Episode 10: Clone Attack

Episode 11: The New Republic Army

Star Wars the Clone Wars Continued

2010-03-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Episode 1: Detonation of Cruiser

Episode 2: The Senate

Episode 3: Droid Attack

Episode 4: Y Wing Under Attack

Episode 5: Y Wing Chase

Episode 6: Anakin's Duel

Episode 7: Clone's Defeat

Episode 8: Clone Spies

Episode 9: The New Army

Rockin' Out

2010-02-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

This is the first video I took on my new phone. Mr. Man and Ama are watching a video on her phone!

Visit with Seattle Family

2010-02-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

Mr. Man's Lego Hindenburg

2009-11-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

A close up showing flames

The whole ship

Lego Pyramid with Surprise Trap Door

2009-08-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man built this Lego pyramid with a remote-control activated trap door that ejects a brick.

Here's Mr. Man describing how he assembles it for launching.

Mr. Man's Machine #1

2009-08-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Pics from Mr. Man's Gold Sash Test - 7/15/09

2009-07-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

Birthday Videos

2009-04-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th year, Mr. Man!

Building on the Columbia

2009-04-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Cake Batter Mustache

2009-03-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Silliness with a Pancake

2009-03-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man Bald & Funny

2009-02-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

We just discovered that my phone takes video.

The Best Vampire Ever

2008-08-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Once there was a vampire. The best vampire there was in Canada. There also was a man named Jim. And the vampire wanted to attack Jim. On Halloween, the vampire went to Jim’s house and knocked on the door and attacked Jim.

The End.

Mr. Man wrote this story when he was 6, but he just found it recently during the move. He asked to put it on his blog.

Long Haul on the New Bike

2008-07-27T16:03:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man announced that he wanted to ride the Springwater Corridor to its end in Boring, OR, about 15 miles east.

So we planned our outing for yesterday and I mapped out our "bus escape routes" in case we got too pooped to ride all the way home.

We got to mile marker 18.2 before he decided to turn around.

We saw hawks, donkeys, horses and rabbits.

All told, Mr. Man rode 22 miles. On the last stop before hopping the bus back to town, we rested for a snack.

Mr. Man was hot and grumpy near the end, but it was a lovely ride overall.

Mr. Man Finally Has a New Bike!

2008-07-13T21:55:00.001-07:00

"Look!" he says. "6 gears and 2 hand brakes!"

Which, of course had to be followed by gelato on this hot, hot day!

Sick Day

2008-06-10T17:14:00.001-07:00

This morning, Mr. Man woke up not feeling well. Around 5:30 AM, he climbed into his mamas' bed and said his throat was a little sore and he thought he might throw up. A few minutes later, he did.

Ama and Mr. Man stayed in bed and watched Microcosmos on DVD. The movie kept getting interrupted so that Mr. Man could throw up some more. Then they both took a nap. When Mr. Man woke up, he threw up and announced he was hungry. He just had a small snack.

Then it was time to work on his airplane. Like it?

Then he threw up on the carpet. He threw up all his food. Then he played computer games. And then he napped. And now we are writing a blog together. Mr. Man says that's good for now.

May Day Mr. Man Style

2008-05-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

When Mr. Man met up with me after work today, he had a lovely piece of work in his hands - a river model that he and a friend made at school.

He decided that he wanted to spend his night attending the May Day Worker's March that started just 2 blocks from my office. We went up the the rally area and hung out. When someone brought Obama posters, he went nuts. He and his friend at school are crazy about Obama. He quickly jumped down and grabbed one of the signs. I suggested he try to attach it to his river model so that he only had one thing to carry. He marched over to a table and asked the kind old woman advocating immigration rights for some tape--and attached the sign to his river model.

He resumed his perch and proudly proclaimed that he has the highest Obama sign in the rally. He also made his first media appearance and talked to a woman from KBOO radio. She asked why he was at the march and he said, "I'm here because I think workers should have choices and rights."

We marched and chanted through downtown. It was his first official "Si, Se Puede!" At the tail end of the march, someone handed me a flier for a May Day festival/party happening after the rally with kids activities and free food. Mr. Man was game, especially since it involved a pinata. But there were other cool things, like making floral crowns.

Happy Beltane! Happy May Day!

7 Years Today

2008-04-06T18:42:00.001-07:00

Mr. Man selected a chocolate chocolate chip cake with chocolate icing for his 7th birthday. We made it all and he decorated it. It is enormous--almost 5 inches tall.

All those candles, takes a lot more puffing.

Served with vanilla ice cream.

Sugar coma promptly ensued.

Cirque

2008-03-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

Can you whistle Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star? The Loyal Whistler can.

Mr. Man and his Mama went to Cirque du Soleil over the weekend. His favorite part was the "big floating balloons with the girl strapped to them." As she floated over the audience, people could push up on her feet and send her higher.

The birthday week has begun...

How you gather leaves...

2008-03-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

So I don't know what to think about this.

Mr. Man and I are riding the bus today to the martial arts place for Spring Break Camp. As usual, we are looking out the window, taking in the morning in the city sites as we pass through neighborhoods we usually don't see this time of day. There is a workman with a leaf blower, blowing dried patches of leaves up the sidewalk and away from the parking lot of his employer. Mr. Man begins his commentary.

"I don't think that is very effective. They will just blow back in."

I agree, I do not understand leaf blowing without bagging and hauling away. Mr. Man offers a solution.

"They should put them in a pile and compost them. Then they would be gone. And - they would have something good for the plants."

Again, I agree. A far better solution on many levels.

"And, that thing takes gas. If we are having a war in Iraq for gas, it seems dumb to do that with it."

Yup. Also true. And I lack the ability to describe the cynical, bitter tone in his voice when he said it. Love and I are pretty careful not to use that tone when explaining or answering questions about the war and the many reasons for it and why we are still in it. Yet, we have been at war his whole life. And that costs, even in these small ways.

I hug him close in our bus seat and tell him I love him and think he is right. I am glad he is thinking about options and how to harm the world less. He says he knows.

Spring Break!

2008-03-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man is officially on Spring Break. His school takes two weeks off. His first week will be spent at his favorite martial arts facility. The second week will be spent with his Ama and on a special birthday trip to the coast (many details to follow). Watch this space!

Red Sparks to Blue Flames

2008-03-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

The Explosion of Color

2008-03-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

Ed. Note: I have been remiss in posting some of Mr. Man's recent work. We begin with an older piece from last fall.

The Best Tournament Ever

2008-02-16T15:18:00.001-08:00

First place, rock on!! It was my first tournament--and the best. It was crazy because once we had to do a tie-breaker. Once I won two rounds in a row. The last round and the last match I was like, "whoever wins this round wins first place". I felt good when I got first place. Once I got a mat burn by diving into tiger. The mat burn hurt.

"My tooth is falling out right now"

2008-01-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Long Hair

2007-08-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

At the science museum playing with static electricity.

1st Place

2007-07-05T21:26:00.001-07:00

Mr. Man made a ribbon for himself today

Practically Perfect

2007-05-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. Mr. Man went for his well-child check-up and it was confirmed that he is wonderful. He is now 47 inches tall. (That's in the 80% for height, so it's not just us, he really is tall). He is also 47.5 lbs (or in the 60% for weight) which is lovely. He confirmed that he wore his bike helmet, knew about stranger danger, ate his vegetables, etc. The doctor (who we like a lot) warned us about the importance of sunscreen and not using #7 plastics for drinking water. We dutifully went out and bought the child a SIGG bottle to replace his Nalgene. Mr. Man reports he was not surprised to learn he was practically perfect at all.

What do you say?

2007-04-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man returned home tonight triumphant and tired. School had been great. The playground went on for over an hour. Mama came to meet us there. As the birthday boy, he got to pick what to do for dinner. Any restaurant, any meal. He initially chose homemade vegan cheese pizza. But the crust takes a while to rise, so by the time we got home, he had agreed to a second choice of chik nuggets. (We'll have pizza tomorrow.)

Presents were opened and just as we settled down to play, Aunt and Uncle from Seattle arrived. We were so staying up past bedtime. Gifts from these two included a small travel mug and a gift card to Starbucks. Mr. Man's love of steamers and coco is well-known. Finally, Mama prompted, "What do you say?"

Mr. Man looked up from the gift card and the mug, "How much is on the card?"

Today is the day!

2007-04-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

And we are off to a good start. Mr. Man awoke to his mothers singing Happy Birthday. He then proceeded the shower to wash off his 5 year old self's dirt and be clean and ready for a new year. He opened one present with his birthday breakfast of his favorite muffin (blueberry and cornmeal) from a local bakery.

In school today, his class will discuss Mr. Man's life and look at a display board of pictures - one from every year - to celebrate. Toting the board on two buses this morning, Mr. Man was also wished well by many commuters and passers-by.

More updates as they happen...

After

2007-04-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

401 pieces later

Before

2007-04-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

This is an unfinished Lego jet. It was a present from my grandmas.

25 Days Until His Birthday...

2007-03-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

I'm just sayin'

Radio Silence

2007-02-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

Its value is about $3.00 in coins.

Really, he does put on clothes sometimes.

Penny Royal

2007-02-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

Penny Royal is made out of pennies and little connectors. It's too small for anyone to live in it. It took me two days to build.

Penny Royal came from a book (by Dick King-Smith) called Ape. Ape lived in Penny Royal with a lot of animals.

This is a funny yucky-looking picture I took.

Thursday is for Building

2007-02-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

This is a plane. I built this plane out of K'Nex. It took about ten minutes - five, something like that.

[Mama says: I have been relegated to parts supplier. Mr. Man builds them all himself now. It really took about 30 minutes.]

Pen House

2007-01-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

This is a pen house. I made this house out of pens. It fell down a few times. I'm going to add on to it. It's a house for mouse, one of my stuffed animals. He's the only one who will fit. If I took the roof off I could fit him in there.

This Week's Creation

2007-01-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

This is a moon racer. It's about to slide on ice - on the moon, of course. We built this out of K'Nex.

Mr. Man wanted to post all of the pictures.

UFO

2007-01-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is a UFO about to land from space from an alien craft life stack.

This is what we looked like on today's PJ Saturday, building the UFO under Mr. Man's loft.

Product Placement

2007-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

"This is a picture of Tiger and my best friend Floppy and a juice that is full," reports Mr. Man, "I am about to drink the juice, as you can see."

Mr. Man and I went down the street to try and complete a simple task at the UPS Store, but the clerk said we had to come back in 20 minutes. So we went next door to Corporate Coffee to hang out and play cards. Floppy and Tiger came along.

Airplane

2007-01-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

"It's an airplane and we just built it a minute ago. The tail moved too much so we had to fix that and it was a little crooked and we fixed that too."

Mama adds: I built it to the specs listed in the design guide and Mr. Man fixed two design flaws.

new phrase coined

2006-07-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Home office report from Mama:

A hike up Mt. Tabor today for Mr. Man and I. Mr. Man chose the steepest paths to climb. Mt. Tabor Park offers hiking trails for people and roads for cars and bikes. After we got to the top and enjoyed the view of the mountains, we went on to find a path down to the playground. We were crossing a road and I cautioned Mr. Man to be aware of traffic. He suggested we go down this side "road", which was really a dead end painted with yellow curbs and clearly not for vehicles. He said, "this is a non car-able space."

A non car-able space.

I like it. Hard to say, but deep with meaning. Mr. Man rocks.

amazing train track

2006-05-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

"Just say I built an amazing train track, that's all I want to say."

Ama wants to add that not only is it an elevated track, but there is an elevated tunnel! Enjoy the grainy camera phone photos.

Two Strangers, a Potluck and a Stubborn Mama

2006-05-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

Another Home Office Report While Ama is in Denver for the weekend:

This month the Seattle aunt and uncle visited for two of the three days Ama was away, thus reducing the amount of time we were lonely. The aunt and uncle brought the Ikea kitchen table we'd been waiting to be in stock for over two months. Ama will be so excited to return to a dining room with a kitchen table!

The fun of this weekend, however, culminated in today. Mr. Man and I had two possible agenda items for today and I thought he would be interested in neither of them. First was a meeting at the new LGBTQ community center for a committee meeting to organize some family events. I explained to Mr. Man that he would be the only child at the meeting and that it might be boring, but that I wanted to go to a meeting to help plan fun for families with two moms and two dads. Surprising to me, he said he wanted to go and packed a sack full of toys in the hot pink Andy Warhol expanding banana bag. We were going to take the bus, but he and I got playing with the harp and replacing a string that we missed the bus that would have made us on time. We decide to drive and we would have been on time had the car started properly the first time and we not been stopped by an amazingly long freight train one block from the office. We arrive 12 minutes late and Mr. Man announced in his most precocious tone, "We're late because we got stopped by a really long train." Immediately we are welcomed. Mr. Man was amazingly patient and actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

We drive back home to prepare for event number two, which is a veg potluck organized by a local resource group. We've decided to make vegan zucchini bread and a bean and rice salad. Mr. Man helps with all the baking and plays at the new kitchen table while I prepare the salad. I check out the details of the event and scope out our commuting options. I wonder about the feasibility of carrying a platter of zucchini bread, a glass bowl of salad and a tote bag containing our serving utensils on two busses. However, we have enough time to make it on time and I'm concerned about the car not starting and also being low on gas. We hop on the first bus easily enough and make our connection with ease. Once we get off the final stop we have to walk about three blocks to the Quaker meeting room. By now my arms are getting tired from carrying the food but more importantly there are huge looming dark clouds coming up behind us and they are flashing lightning. Mr. Man spots the lightning and starts to panic. (Thanks to Ama they've read an educational book about electricity and Mr. Man promptly reports that you should never be outside in a lightning storm for safety reasons.) I calm his fears, praying that I remember the address and know which way to turn when we get to the next street. Fortunately I turned the right way and we find the location before the storm comes any closer. Rain comes down in sheets while we are at the potluck. I enjoyed a huge veg feast, Mr. Man ate little and played the entire time in the nursery adjoining the meeting room. He came out briefly to see the speaker who had pictures of her volunteer work in New Orleans doing animal rescue.

When it's time for us to go home, it is only slightly raining, but I am regretting that I did not pack my raingear, for there are more dark clouds off in the distance. We get Mr. Man bundled in his waterproof coat and head toward our bus stop. I'm thankful that all of the zucchini bread was eaten, for now the empty platter and a mostly empty salad container are much lighter. We get to the bus stop and I'm concerned by a cursory look at the schedule that we just missed the bus and that the next one doesn't look like it's coming for another hour. While I'm digging for my phone to call to check the schedule the bus comes. Perfect! We pile on and get off at our next connection. It's still sprinkling, so we're happy when we find that our transfer point has a bus hut. We are dismayed however to find that the last bus that services this stop was 30 minutes ago. This seems absurd. There was a man at the hut just before we arrived and when he sees us loitering at the stop, he comes back. He and I discuss the situation with the bus and I confirm by calling Trimet that the bus is not coming back to this stop until 5:48 am Monday morning. We discuss our options. It seems we can walk about a mile to a different transfer point where for some odd reason our bus does run. I briefly consider calling a cab or the only friend we have in this town. I assess Mr. Man's energy level and we decide to walk. Stranger #1 says he'll walk with us, as he's heading to the same place.

We begin our trek. I say I hope he enjoys talkative travelers. Mr. Man has put on his precocious voice and has been gabbing non-stop today. Stranger #1 inquires if we went to a birthday party. I explain we were at a potluck. Stranger #1 inquires if Mr. Man ate all the desert, as he is very hyper. I respond that Mr. Man ate very little at the potluck, rather he just has a very natural hyper charm. We have gone about six blocks when Stranger #1 inquires if I want to share a cab. This is perhaps mistake # 6 for me for the day, but it by far my biggest. I say that I don't have cash, only a credit card, and I think we'll walk unless it starts to pour. The dark clouds are of course still looming. We continue to walk, although Stranger #1 generally walks about 25-50 feet ahead of us. (I think he enjoys quiet contemplation.) In about 2 more blocks, Stranger #1 says I'll just pay for the cab. Mistake #7. I say thank you, but we'll continue walking. Mr. Man is a picture of talkative perfection and we make it to the last block. At this point Stranger #1 is too far ahead of us and makes it through the huge intersection one walk light ahead of us. Stranger #1 continues south on the road we had been on instead of turning left to the bus stop that is our destination. Mr. Man and I comment that he must have decided to go another way. By the time we cross the intersection, we are too far away to yell ahead to him.

We head to our bus stop to see when our bus comes. It comes in 30 minutes. We're in front of a gas station and mini mart. Mr. Man didn't eat much at the potluck so I offer to take him to the nearby Subway to wait the 30 minutes. He declines. We go into the gas station and get him a Clif bar and water. We go back to the bus hut and sit down. Enter Stranger #2, who has just returned from a 2 day hike in the mountains. He is occupying one seat and his huge gear backpack is occupying the other seat in the bus hut. He asks if we want to sit. We say no, thanks and sit down on the ground where Mr. Man eats half of his bar and much of his water. We begin the long wait. The dark clouds have moved in closer and are now flashing with thunder. Fortunately they are behind the bus hut so Mr. Man doesn't see them right away. When he does see the lightning he panics once again and tells me we should be inside. The problem is there is nowhere inside to go that we wouldn't possibly miss the bus. I calm him and tell him that if the lightning comes close to us and the storm starts to get really bad we'll go inside. Stranger #1 helps immensely by talking to us about his trip and generally being really friendly. Mr. Man hugs my leg and hides his head for most of the flashes of lightning.

About ten minutes before the bus is to arrive, it begins to hail. Hail about the size of pennies. The sound as the hail hits the glass bus hut is deafening. The hail lasts merely two minutes and is replaced by sheets of water. We are blessed that our bus hut is facing north, as we are entirely sheltered from the elements. A lake of water has grown in front of the bus hut and every passing car threatens to cover us in a wave of water. Fortunately we are dry when we get on the bus. Mr. Man and I make a plan for walking home in torrential rain. To my dismay this bus is on the route that goes down 13th instead of 17th, so we will be dropped off 4 blocks from home instead of right on our corner. We're about half way home when the bus stops to pick up a passenger - no one other than a totally soaking, dripping Stranger #1. He sees us and we greet each other. I ask if he got stuck in the hail. He says yes. I apologize that we didn't run after him when we got separated and explain that we thought he decided to go another way. He said no, that he just didn't know where to go. I am so unhappy that we weren't able to help. He is simply drenched and dripping from head to toe.

When it is time to get off the bus it is only drizzling. Stranger #1 follows our lead when we get off, asking if this is 17th. I explain that it's 13th, but that we're walking to 17th from here. He exits too. Once again he races off ahead by about 25 feet. Mr. Man and I turn into our driveway to see a soaked Stranger #1 heading across 17th. We had no idea where he was heading, but we hope he got there safely and was able to dry off.

We left the potluck at 7:30 pm and arrived home at 9:09 pm. Amazingly we arrived at home 90% dry. Mr. Man has been instructed to deter me from taking the bus the next time we go to a potluck.

A post-adventure commuter tip: Always check the bus schedule and use the online trip planner for the return trip, even when you think you're familiar with the bus schedule. It will helpfully tell you to transfer to a different point and a different bus.

Hiking Dripping Dancing

2006-05-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

Home Office Report:

Last weekend this little Ama went to Denver and the other little Mama ran wee, wee, wee, all the way home for a three-day weekend with Mr. Man. We had fun all three days, despite the fact that Mama dressed us incorrectly for the weather every single day.

Friday was beautiful so we took the train to Washington Park and hiked over two miles through Hoyt Arboretum on steep trails and past an archery range to the Japanese Garden. We took pictures of the beautiful gardens, the tea house and the water basins, but Mama can't Bluetooth her photos and they're not as good as the website anyway. Just know it was beautiful. We were too tired to hike back the two miles so we bussed back to the zoo, where we had lunch in the zoo cafe and played in the Children's Museum until they closed. Mr. Man chose to paint his face with the face paints in the museum so he could look very scary. Maybe Ama can get the photos up sometime. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. (We had coats and long sleeve shirts.)

After grocery shopping we walked through Sellwood in search of a place to get Mr. Man's hair cut for summer. We tried three salons in the neighborhood but they were all busy, so instead we hopped on the bus to go to REI. When we got off the train and were walking to the streetcar, we saw Mr. Statue. For those who don't know, Mr. Statue is a man painted entirely in silver - every inch of his body. He stands exactly like a statue. Most people don't think he's real until he gets out his juggling balls and does the smoothest, gravity-defying tricks with them - until he stands like a statue again. He's awesome. A few blocks later Mr. Man and I run across the street to catch the oncoming streetcar and he loses his sneaker as we're running across the intersection. We skiddled at the cool waterfalls on the way to REI and then went to get sandals for summer. After we purchased Mr. Man's Tevas, he attempted to rock climb the mountain in the store. This marks Mr. Man's second attempt and he went a little farther and a little longer. While in REI, the rain begins to come down. Despite the early morning warm weather, the day became cool and rained a lot. (The most we've seen in Portland since moving here.) We did have our waterproof coats, but were wearing only short sleeves underneath so we shivered the whole way home. We stopped at the Lloyd Center to warm up. Mr. Man got his hair cut and we had dinner and watched people ice skate in the mall.

Sunday we prepared for our first pagan celebration with other pagans. The local Reclaiming Collective hosted a Beltaine ritual and Mr. Man and I went. We made rhubarb upside down cake and a bean/rice salad to share. Mr. Man and I made a beautiful flower arrangement that sat in a strawberry carton. We decorated the carton with ribbons and made a basket handle out of leaves that we wove together. It was great fun. Mr. Man's favorite part of the ritual was taking a handful of lilacs and other herbs and tossing them over our heads to cast the circle. After the ritual Mr. Man and I went to Sellwood Park to play. He rode his scooter and I walked. It was warm and sunny all day, but when we got to the shade of the park it was chilly and we had no jackets.

Aside from the inability to dress ourselves properly, we had an awesome weekend.

One train and two fountains

2006-04-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Mr. Man reports for April 20, 2006:
"We went to Gresham on the very, very fast train. And on the way back we saw a huge bonfire. We also saw a fountain that was as strong as a fire hose and it could throw an adult so you should never go in the middle jet. I went in the fountain - both of them. It lowered and highered and didn't have water below it so I could just run under them when it wasn't to thin or too small."

Clarification from the Home Office:
We rode one of the train lines out to the very end of the line just because Mr. Man thought this would be a fun idea. On the way back, we saw a man burning leaves and yard waste in his backyard. We also saw two fountains at different parks yesterday. The first fountain is a series of small streams of water that shift to create patterns etc. You can indeed run through them, play in them, etc. There are quite a few fountains in Portland that let you do this. The second fountain is on the riverfront. These jets are much larger and stronger. There was a sign that warned that the center jet "could throw an adult" and please don't go in it. But again, it is totally fine for you to run underneath all the other jets and generally scream and laugh and have a fun time. So we did.