In France, the nation breaks for vacation on Bastille Day, July 14, and returns to work after Assumption Day, August 15. Today is not only the last day of national vacation for the French, but it feels like the end of my summer adventures, too. We are not home yet. It will be a few days still before we are in Los Angeles. But we are definitely on the way back.
Ellen and I started the day with a dog walk. She pointed out the local home restorations she likes and the gardens in the neighborhood that she admires. Her neighborhood, just north of Division in Southeast Portland, is a fascinating mix of houses or different eras and in different stages of restoration. There are Craftsmen homes which have been completely renovated right next to post-war bungalows which look exactly like they must have in 1965. The former often have elaborate gardens and mortar-free brick walls. The latter usually have a grass, a couple foundation shrubs, and a few geraniums lined up in a perfect row. Ellen stopped in a local bakery and picked up some breakfast pastries while I stood outside with our three dogs.
Ellen had to go to her office to meet with a former student. Mike needed to return their rental car, so the three of us went downtown. John planned to meet up with us later. Mike and I went to Powell books. I was tempted to buy a few things there, but mindful that we have far more books at home than bookshelves just dutifully pulled out my phone and added them to my requested list at the library.
Not without some confusion, John finally met up with us near Pioneer Square. We went to a great Cuban restaurant for lunch.
We dropped Mike off at home to get some important work done, and John and I went to the nursery with Ellen.
She bought a couple big bags of some kind of organic soil enrichment. We dropped them off in her garden, and then went off to look at Elk Rock, another garden she had always wanted to see. This garden is also known as the “Bishop’s Close” because it is on the grounds of a historic home which currently houses the offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. The house and garden are just south of Portland near the town of Lake Oswego. The house and garden have a fantastic view of Mount Hood. The mountain is visible from the opening between the trees.
There is a chapel attached to the house and also an area for outside worship.
We went back to the house and picked up Mike to go to see The Help. John and I had listened to the book in the car, and Ellen had also read the novel. So it was interesting to see how the book would be adapted to the screen. Generally we thought they had done a pretty good job and enjoyed it. Outside the downtown theater is a small park where people can play chess with some pretty big chess pieces.
Keeping up the Dixie theme, we went up to Mississippi Street to Miss Delta, a southern restaurant. The food was over quite good, and I particularly enjoyed my crawfish boil. It was served on a piece of newspaper, traditional down in Cajun country.
