Category Archives: Portland

Almost Wordless Wednesday: The Karaoke Collection Grows

Taking a moment from the Karin/Mayumi photo fest to share a few photos of a recent Karoke evening. It seems that this has become a regular event, thanks largely to ringleader (and singer extraordinaire), LeeAnn. My collection of Karaoke photos is growing so large that I think I see a Karoake photo book in my future.

Photos have been selected carefully to protect (and flatter) the innocent.

Guess this song

And then someone else picked up the camera so I am obliged to post just one photo of myself. My favorite part of the photo is the lyric on screen. Perfect.

OK – guess I made it into the background of this one too.

Great times.

And Then the Sun Came Out…

After weeks (months!) of rain, the sun finally decided to show it’s face in Portland this weekend. We celebrated by continuing to show Mayumi and Karin around the city. In hindsight, probably not the best choice for the 4th of July/Portland Blues Festival/first nice weekend of the year. Still, we had a great time catching the train downtown and then navigating the  the crowds, to sneak in a little waterfront fountain time and a walk to Pioneer Square. (Note to the Tourism Center: you need to stock more maps and materials in Japanese).

Making use of our Joovy double stroller again for the first time in at least a year. Came in very handy for toting at least two children at a time and sometimes even three.

The kids were a little hesitant about the fountain at first but as you can see, they soon got in the spirit. As difficult as it is to photograph in full sun, I love that we finally get to experience a few harsh shadows.

Oh, and temporary tattoos are big in our house. In case you were wondering about those unsightly marks all over my children.

And you can’t call it a trip to the Rose City without saying hello to at least one Beaver…

…or posing with a few local icons (Sapporo: 4,456 miles)

Such a fun day, harsh shadows included.

Life with Karin: Day Two

I’ll be posting a lot of photographs over the next few months so consider yourself warned. It’s not only because I suddenly have a new, adorable, photo subject (although that’s a big motivator), but also because I hope to use this blog to share pictures of Karin and Mayumi with their family back in Fukushima.

Mayumi and I spent her first night in our house talking about her experience in Japan after the Tsunami – she in her broken English and me in my VERY broken Japanese. She talked about how the playgrounds in her neighborhood were empty due to the fear of radiation. How Karin no longer took afternoon naps because she didn’t get enough physical activity to tire her out. How they never left the house except to run errands.

So, after a sleep-in to recover a little from Jet Lag, I took Mayumi and Karin to the park. It was the most perfect Portland day. After weeks and weeks of grey skies and rain, it seems the sun had appeared just to welcome Mayumi and Karin to Portland.

We walked past the rose garden and as the smell of the flowers hit our noses, we both shed a tear. Mayumi, because she was outside with her child for the first time in months, and me because I realized how much I take for granted and how thankful I am that one small child (a child I didn’t even know two days ago but already love as my own) is able to play outside without fear of illness. If it sounds dramatic, it’s because it IS dramatic.

And I think the look on this child’s face tells the rest of the story…

 

On Being an American Mother

Growing up in Australia, my primary understanding of American childhood and adolescence were the images that came from the TV and movie screen. Happy Days and Grease (High school in the 50s), Family Ties (Family life in the 80s), Beverly Hills 90210 (High school angst in the 90s), Sesame Street (childhood with Muppets!).

Now, I realize that these representations of middle-American life are more stereotypical than true to life, but they gave me enough information to appreciate the many differences that existed for those wonderfully cool and attractive people that lived on the other side of the world, most notably…

  • School cafeterias
  • School buses
  • Cheerleaders
  • Jocks and football, track, basketball…etc. (but, strangely, few female sports)
  • Proms, homecoming dances and people who were given royal titles for such occasions.
  • Being able to drive yourself to school!
  • Lots of partying and drinking

Note: none of the above happened on Sesame Street. What I learned primarily from that show is that people and monsters can live side-by-side in harmony.

Right now, Kei and I are catching up on the one and only season of Freaks and Geeks. I don’t think the show ever made it to Australia and, if it had, I can’t help thinking that my view of the American adolescence may have been a little less bright and shiny and a little more like my own Australian experience (minus the cheerleaders).

I was the least popular girl in one of the slightly popular groups. We were not quite outcasts but we definitely lived near the fringe of school life.  I was in the singing group (think Glee but with less impressive choreography), I played a minor character with a solo in the school production of Oliver!, I got mostly A’s but a few B’s (until they changed the grading system and I started getting S’s and C’s). For the most part, I flew under the radar and I knew, without a doubt, that my life would get better when I went to University.

And it did. Phew!

Now I find myself raising children in the world I saw on television and not the world I knew. Sure, there are similarities, but my kids will eat in a cafeteria, one day ride an iconic yellow bus to school… and then there’s the sports.

Thomas just finished his first season of T-Ball. Two practices and one game each week for three months. He’s only five. In two years he’ll have to try out for the team. On the one hand, I am excited that he’s growing up and spending time outside and, right now, seems to enjoy himself. On the other hand, I’m a little afraid of this brand new world that we’re both moving in to – the world of school buses and organized sports.

One thing’s for sure, though, I have never felt quite so much like an American mother as I did when I watched Thomas at his final T-Ball game of the season. And, while I felt as though I were having an out-of-body classic-American movie experience for some of the time, it was fun to watch my little boy run the bases.

And the best part? I can tell him about my couple of seasons spent playing with the Ferntree Gully Fireballs T-Ball team. Despite the fact that many of his other childhood adventures will also be new experiences for me, we’ll always have T-Ball.

I guess we’ll learn the rest together.

Just Hanging

This weekend was the first 80 plus degree day in Portland for over 7 months.

Let me give you a moment to think about that – 7 MONTH!

Can you even contemplate the pressure that puts on a person to have a great weekend and  to soak up every single second of sunshine and warmth?

I didn’t quite soak up every second but we got outside for the most part. Kei and Thomas went canoeing on Saturday morning and then headed to T-ball in the afternoon. Samuel and I spent the morning at the park with a “progressive snack” which is just like a progressive dinner except it involves snacks consumed in a variety of park locations that are chosen at a three-year-old’s whim. It took a long time to get from one end of the park to the other but we eventually made it to the playground before I took Samuel home for a nap.

After nap and T-ball, we rode our bikes to Mississippi Ave for some ice cream. The perfect pass time for, what turned out to be, a very warm spring day.

I didn’t take this photo on the weekend – it’s about a week old – but I think it summarizes my Saturday with Samuel perfectly – just hanging out.

It’s also my entry for the latest I heart faces challenge, “From a distance”.

Happy Monday!

Just Beacuse (Best Face of May)…

Because he’s featured so rarely here on the blog and this photo was a little buried in my last bog post and, well, this was my favorite face photo of the month.

Because I think it deserved another post for the I Heart Faces best face photo.

But really, who needs a reason?

Quite possibly the most fabulously perfect day off… ever!

A couple of weeks ago I took a day off just for me. It was nothing like the disastrous waste of a couple of days when I attempted to celebrate my birthday.

No, this one was illness free, perfectly planned and executed AND the sun came out in Portland. Perfect!

And I may have taken just a few photographs to document this practically perfect day…

My morning began at Peets, my favorite coffee place. A quiet, peaceful moment of alone time with my mocha was interrupted by a crazy man who decided to sit at my table. At first he tricked me by looking normal but then he started talking to me. Something about the Olson twins and a fire in the Chrysler building that lead, naturally, to a comment on  the dilemmas of a conjoined twin (one wants to move one way and one wants to go the other – what do they do?). After feigning interest for a while I managed to politely excuse myself and headed off to…

Powells!! Where I spent one full hour browsing photography books by myself . Bliss! And I only bought one book, as tempted as I was to walk away with about 10 pieces of fresh inspiration.

 

Next on the agenda was cashing in a gift certificate for a spa treatment that I was given nearly a year ago. Two wonderful hours of pampering with a foot rub and hot stone massage within, quite possibly, the most relaxing place in downtown Portland. When I left, my whole body felt like Jelly – which is a good thing…

Having finished my only appointment for the day I found myself with NO PLANS. And for a photographer, that means photo walk.

 

And then just when I thought my day was pretty perfect just the way it was, my husband called and suggested we meet for lunch.

I took a quick self portrait while I waited for him to arrive.

And tried to find the meaning in some public art.

Then Kei turned up and, after lunch, I took one of my favorite photos of him.

After saying goodbye to Kei, I decided to take the scenic route back to the Pearl (and my car) with a walk through the park blocks.

Blue Sky!!

A quick stop for some Frozen Yogurt which may become my summer addiction (if summer ever arrives, that is).

 

And more blue skies… I spent a lot of time looking up and soaking it all in.

Next up was a visit to Finnegan’s to pick up some birthday presents for my baby. I looked longingly at these dolls but walked away with this dragon instead – just one of the sacrifices for a mother with two boys. I also picked up some beginner colorforms and a harmonica, which turned out to be the biggest hit with both boys. Think I’ll have to go back and buy another one, if only for a little germ containment.

Finally, one more quick stop at Powell’s for a couple of children’s books, and my day was complete in more ways than one. As Mary Poppins would say, it was “Practically perfect in every way.”