Smoky day in Cathedral Park

Our supposedly "accessible," supposedly "progressive" city does not have many accessible spaces for people with mobility challenges. We have many parks, almost none of them accessible for walkers (rollators) and wheel chairs. Sue and I felt Cathedral Park, under the beautiful St. Johns Bridge, would be the perfect spot for today, and it would have been, but for the smoky air. Terrible air quality, as fires continue burning the Oregon forests and the smoke keeps on drifting into town. If you look over Jeremy's head toward the river, you'll see how bad the air is.

Despite all, we had a fine time together. (I was the only one who didn't get the memo about the dress code.) Sue was a great hit. They marveled at my good luck (as do I, every day). Tomorrow we leave, and for the first 3 nights we'll be staying at the home of another pair of old friends of mine. 

I haven't seen Bill and Richard in 36 years. We were all three in the PhD program in theatre at the University of Texas from 1982-86, but we've stayed in touch, at first by mail and in recent years by email and social media. Of course I'm worried that they will not even recognize me due to my weight gain and aging, and that I'll be so boring they'll wonder why they kept in touch and will nervously drum their fingers, waiting for the 3 days to pass. Then I remind myself that they will also be 36 years older than they were the last time we met, and that it will be fun to see what has changed and what has remained the same since our student years. What is the "essence" of a person? I remain curious about that, and that curiosity is usually the quality that gets me through tight spots.

I'm turning comments off now, but I will post from Bill and Richard's house tomorrow, and I'll post as often as I can after that, possibly needing to backblip now and then. Once we leave Bill and Richard's house and head for the country, wifi may be unreliable, but I'll do my best to take you with me on this Last Big Trip.