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Monday, June 16, 2008

 
2:19 PM: joyeux june [#] [0]

the good weather is finally here! this is wonderful during the day AND at night because i can finally see the moon again. a few nights ago i walked out of the hous and said, "oh, hi, scorpio!" the last major constellation i remember seeing was leo -- though to be fair, virgo & libra are not very distinct.

my good deed for the week: last week i was shopping at new seasons when a child entered the deli area screaming. the mother was trying to ignore him and continue shopping and i could feel the air temperature around me drop several chilly degrees as the child continued to cry. people were looking around and rolling their eyes. finally the mother took the child to a different part of the store, but you could still hear the boy screaming. when i made my way back to the toiletries aisle the mother was trying to wrestle her child into the cart but it looked like he was winning. people were snickering and mouthing to each other and an old woman said something mean to me that i couldn't make out but her tone was obvious. at that point i walked over to the mother and asked if i could help. "i don't know what i can do, but i wanted you to know you didn't have to suffer alone." i knelt so i was at the same level as the boy and began talking to him, and soon he calmed down enough to be led back to the deli for something to eat and drink. as he left he kept checking to make sure i was still there, and when i saw him later in the store he was following his mom along contentedly. i felt like a superhero after that, but i was scared because i don't have children and i'm not sure how it feels to have someone approach you like that: is it a relief or is it shameful? it felt like part of what i was doing was calming her down as well as him.

last week i also met w/ my fall 2008 artist's way group in vancouver. they've been meeting regularly since the group ended in december, so i was happy to be invited.

on saturday i did my first pedalpalooza event, a "cycle the well fields" tour organized by the portland water bureau. we did a 16-mile loop (my longest ride yet!) between the parkrose transit center and blue lake, stopping at different features and monitoring stations of the columbia slough watershed. i like learning unusal things about portland: not only do i know how much water portland uses in a day (80-100 million gallons in the winter and 200-280 million gallons in the summer), i also got to go inside a secret water bunker buried in the side of the hill and know of a secret canoe launch site. yay!

after the ride i scrambled home to change into a dress, pick up the broccoli polenta and go to jalex's bridal shower, where i was embarassed to have answered the most questions correctly on the "how well do you know our beloved jackie?" quiz. i think most of it is osmosis from sven, really, so i shared the prize with him when i got home (five dark chocolate caramels). as far as bridal showers go, this one was pretty pleasant.