rDay Ten – EOU and the Neighborhood

Today’s late afternoon dog walk mostly takes in the green spaces of the EOU campus.  We also visit EOU’s Stenard Memorial Garden, where we note the nearby window through which Kim once escaped her middle school class (as witnessed and told to me by Jenna Dorn).  On the way home, we walk by the demolition (under protest) site of the former anti-domestic violence center, Shelter from the Storm, and also pass by my old office, now occupied by Grande Ronde Recovery and situated as our next door neighbor.  And we make it home before rain.

rDay Seven, April First Edition

The afternoon proceeded with a visit to the library and hanging book art, then a dog outing where the high school track team was working out, with a stroll past the hospital, noting randomness such as skies and cars along the way.

rDay Six, Walkabout

Rainy day.  First, downtown in the morning to see the doc, drop in on friends and scout some of the changes and some of the familiar.  Second, another late afternoon trek to Exorcise the Beast, see the sneaker approach to planting, and just poke around seldom-seen side streets.

rDay Five – Walkin’ The Dog

Spring is springing, dogs are walking.   Supplementing the morning walk, today we do a late afternoon round through the campus, to the park where the kids played many years ago and where now “their” trees have grown to over two stories in height since planting them for Nik and Ivi across the street at the old homestead, up the secret return path to campus, and past the police station.

rDay Four – Upper Igo

Sunday morning finds us at the Upper Igo MERA (Mt. Emily Recreation Area) trail.  Alone except for a brief encounter with a solo mountain bike rider, the three of us — Kim, Charlie and self — hiked about for nearly two hours.  No bears, no cougars, no wolverines.

Stopping at Riverside Park on the return, we crossed the footbridge (see an earlier post here) over the river — Charlie refused to put a paw on the bridge unless he was carried — and hiked the length of the new trail across from the park.  After nearly another hour, we head for home and lunch.

rDay Two – Apricot Macaroon Project

Following a morning of walking downtown, dropping in on some people and photographing, a strange desire for macaroons prompted a spontaneous self-help project.  Required a quick power-walk downtown for coconut.  Kim assisted with dicing some dried apricots and pointing out the location of appropriate tools, facilities and ingredients (some of which now bear newly-affixed labeling, in keeping with the responsible backpacker’s/camper’s tradition of leaving a trail and campsite in at least equal and preferably better condition than it was found) .  By 5pm, the results were ready for sampling with some vin rouge.   Photographic evidence has been assembled to preclude an anticipated reaction of disbelief on the part of dear daughter and chef-in-absentia, Ivi..