Fleeting


Photo courtesy of KellyRy

The days of summer are fast and fleeting. To those who are disappointed by my failure to keep current...sorry. It seems that one day takes the next--breakfast, laundry, guests, walks, watering the lawn and just barely keeping up. (Am I the only one that feels this way?) Alas, blogging has fallen by the way side.

Highlights from the past weeks:

- a 4th of July children's parade in our neighborhood. Hilarious and delightful. Droves and droves of children in their wagons, on foot, on bike--all decorated with patriotic fanfare. We all circled several blocks on Reed College Pl.
Incidentally and curiously- we live just a few blocks away from Reed and every time we pass it, Audrey says, 'church!' Curious because Reed is one of the academic environments most hostile towards faith of any kind. It's a really beautiful campus and I plan on auditing a course or two this Fall.

-Gelato, ice cream, popcicles and more gelato



-if you're looking for us on Wednesday nights, you'll probably find us hanging out with our new friends and neighbors at our local Farmers Market. In addition to buying yummy stuff, everyone hangs out and eats dinner while their kids play on the grass.


Photo courtesy of Kellyry. Oh wait a second, I took this picture.

- a delightful but painfully brief visit from our precious Kelly...soon on her way to Chicago. Ever losing my camera, Kelly's photos of her recent visit are far superior anyhow. We also had the pleasure of a relaxing afternoon with Phoebe and her sweet babes....See Kell's photostream from her visit here and some family photos of us too. Man is she talented, and man am I looking old.

-among the highlights of Kelly's visit were finding a collection of minature dinasaurs hidden in a neighbors landscaping...


Photo courtesy of Kellyry


Photo courtesy of Kellyry

and a trip to Voodoo donuts (a renowned Portland establishement), where Kell so bravely ordered a Maple Bacon Bar which she declares to be 'probably the best donut that she has ever had in her life.'

-first time we hosted playgroup at our house. pretzels and popscicles everwhere. oh-and thank goodness for that slip-n-slide we bought last year. it has already earned it's keep.

-Audrey told me I was 'stinky' for the first time, after we had been outside in the hot sun (thanks alot).

-another visit to Seattle to see the Holts (Mike has stories to tell about a death-defying hike and river-crossing with Eric) and dinner at Salty's with the Lindbergs (from Denmark, on a 6-week tour of the U.S.).

-Mike played in the Imago Dei McKinley Kickball Tournament. His team lost, but they sure did have fun.

- a failed levain liquide (a French sourdough starter). Besides my determination to learn the art of artisan bread-baking, it was actually a secret litmus test to guage the readiness of whether or not I could manage the responsibility of an additional child. The answer: resounding 'no.'

It was going so well and I followed instructions religiously...for the most part. I fed and watered the dang thing for 10 days; it looked very hopeful and at times promising, but could not carry it to term. Well, at least I know what went wrong. The problem is that I like to keep my house cool and aired out; as such, I could not achieve the constant temperature of 75-80F, necessary for successful fermentation. With my windows always open or the aircon. on those especially warm days, it was just always closer to 70 or so.

-when not walking or biking around, we've been experimenting with taking the bus--downtown and to Woodstock. Super easy and convenient. The closest busstop is 3 minutes away.

-0n biking-we LOVE it. our bikes especially like to visit Stacatto Gelato and Speilwerk--the coolest toy store ever.



This weekend, we are looking forward to the arrival of our dear friend Marian, together with her fiancée, Peter, from Denmark. They'll be with us until the end of the month. YEAH!!!!!!

K's Day



Klever Kelly is kommemorating in Katalina while kayaking, konsuming kool kocktails, kute kupcakes, kalling kongenial kohorts and, konceivably, kissing karousing, koy kads.

Happy Birthday, sis.
In honor of you, I made mental cupcakes that look like this:



Men-tal cup-cakes
- noun
1. a small cake, baked and decorated only in the mind
* origin: b. morris

Denver- PDX

The other day we were at a Skt. Hans (Summer Solstice) party with a bunch of Danish people. Among the crowd was a 'top meteorologist' who told us that despite its reputation for 'bad' weather, Oregon actually had some of the 'best' weather in the entire country. Many people at the party concurred, saying that the Oregon summers were reason enough to live here (who knew?!).

Apparently, long-time Oregonians also call the rainy season the 'rinse cycle.'
It purges all of the crappy people out of Oregon. A restaurant owner in Downtown Portland and California native told us the same last August.

So if anyone happens to be looking at real estate in oh, say for example, Denver, you've got 90's and muggy. We've got 80's and... 'moist.'

You can still make it here in time for a cold Widmer, brisket tacos and fireworks down by the river.
Denver to PDX- $239.
For everything else, there's Mastercard.

$1



You may recall that on our most recent trip to West Africa, one of the most urgent issues facing our partners there, was the lack of clean water. It was haunting and heart-wrenching to see fellow humans actually drinking water we would consider too muddy, even for washing our cars. Lack of clean water is an ongoing crisis over most of the African continent; recent flooding, drought, and seasonal factors have only made things worse.

In order to bring more awareness to the issue, writer Donald Miller is riding a bike across the U.S. during June and July. You can check out his site to read more about it or check out his video plug below. You might even consider sponsoring his ride--all proceeds will go to Blood: Water Mission, a non-profit started by the band, Jars of Clay. Donations will help fund the drilling of clean water wells.

$1 will pay for water for one African for an entire year.

Often we say that all we have is Gods'.
But can He really trust us with His money?

Our guy.



Dearly beloved
Daddy
Hero
Lover
Best friend
Hottie
Comedian
Helper
Protector
Provider
Runner
Reader
Companion
Encourager
Listener
Human
Man seeking to follow Christ into every day

We are so blessed
by God
to be
your girls.

Granma and Granpa



Two of Audrey's most favorite people came to visit from CA-- Granma and Granpa! And what a time was had (unfortunately, not many pictures were taken...)! We had fun showing them around our new neighborhood and town.


We had a nice, relaxing visit that included long walks, golf & the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, fantastic meals at local establishments, and lots of chit chat .



...they even brought a Dora the Explorer phone that calls Audrey by name





and Lederhosen that once belonged to Mike at the same age!

Arthouse Cinema-
Cooler than cool.



M's parents are visiting and so we had a date Sunday night. Having heard about this phenomenon of 'Art House Cinema's', we had to see for ourselves.

If you've never been to one, let me tell you--this will revolutionize our lives forever. Seriously, why aren't there more of these everywhere?

Super cool, old vintage theaters are still used for movies--but now they have tables at your seat, where you can eat while watching the movie! The Laurelhurst theater we went to serves gourmet pizza slices, microbrews and soda by the pitcher or glass (a pitcher of soda cost only $3!), candy, popcorn and donuts. Movie tickets cost only $3. Seriously, how cool is that? And there are 3 or 4 of this in SE alone!

Our friend, Lisa, sent this to us. Funny.
The fatally short attention span of American goes for alot of things.

Helmet

Since you've asked--this is what my helmet looks like:


M's is matte black. Both of our bikes are black. We're so adventurous.

Have you ever...



...seen anything more adorable or hilarious?



Audrey and mommy went shopping for her first bike helmet and, according to the salesperson, she was unusually good and cooperative in the buying process (unlike her mommy with clausterphobic tendencies who kept wanting a bigger helmet with a looser chin-strap, which apparently goes against what's safe; i detest anything even slightly constricting around my neck and chin. All those biking years in Denmark, I never wore one, but then again hardly any girls did, so as to avoid 'hat hair' and such. But, now, i must set a good example (argh) so my girl's cranium will be protected. )



She loves her new bike helmet so much that she wants to eat with it on.



I let her pick the color and will confess to trying to talk her out of the pink options. Despite my attempts to be nonchalant about the matter, I ended up exercising mommy-veto-power by nixing the ' Girly Doggy Glamour' helmet, and let her get the pink bunnies instead. Gag. But ok.

Morgenhygge



Audrey and I were having a 'hyggelig stund' this morning, so I am finally able to satisfy requests for more pictures of the house. Speaking of hyggelig--our visit with the Winn family last night was just that --(sorry there's only this one pic; the rest were no good.)

Brennan Winn (such a doll) double-fisting peaches




This is the coolest picture of Audrey that ever has, or ever will be taken. (From our lovely friend, Denise....whom we miss desperately.)



The living room...from a few angles...










The dining room...





The small, but functional bathroom...





Audrey's bedroom...
(not quite sure what she's doing to Angel the mouse; I think he might be getting frisked.)





Our boudoir...





Pictured here is the famed wardrobe from IKEA that Denise and Mike wrestled into existence. Holy cow--what a mammoth project; and these are two very adept and experienced assemblers, let me tell you. It was no small thing--but there was almost no closet space so we appreciate it every day.



Hopefully we can take pictures of the basement (including office and guest room once the boxes are cleared enough to actually see anything down there.)

Composting



An embarrassing story:

One of the first things we noticed upon our arrival to this house was the EXTREMELY small trash barrel. And the fact that there was only 1 of them. Plus a few assorted containers for recycling and yard debris.

This was shocking because at our other house, we had 2 GINORMOUS barrels and we stuffed those puppies to the gills every single week. I'm afraid to say that despite our efforts to reduce packaging, yada, yada--we were definitely doing our part to furnish the landfills. And this was with us taking our glass and aluminum to the recycling center.

So here we are with our with 1 barrel, roughly the size of our kitchen trash can--which we literally emptied every day. Serious panic time. And we ask the neighbors what the recycling system is and how on earth people get by with such little trash bins--even if they do recycle. Jen, our neighbor, looks at us with a dubious look, explaining that ours is even the 'large' barrel and that it's really no problem for most people. I doubted.

But I am AMAZED to report that it is TRULY incredible, how much less trash you have if you both recycle and compost. INCREDIBLE, I tell you. The homeowners already had one of those compost bins hidden behind the garage, so we just bought a countertop composter (shown below), which we fill with all organic materials (food scraps (coffee grinds, eggshells, etc., but not meat or dairy), Audrey's diapers (one of the kinds we use is compostable), and so on.) Then with the paper, glass, aluminum and plastic in the recycling bins, to my shock and awe--we don't even fill up the 1 trash can every week!



May be it's just me, but to think that at least 75% of the stuff I was putting into my trashcans could have gone elsewhere, is mind-boggling. WOW. I am especially amazed by the amount of compostable stuff and paper we generate.

(The counter-top compost pail is just an interim stop so that you don't constantly have to run outside. It's really just a pail with a charcoal filter in the lid to eliminate odor.) And that compost is going to make incredibly fertile hummus--so just watch and see as the Darth-Vader of gardening turns back to to the light.)

Teitur and Sambo's

There is so much to love in Danish culture--old and new. But if you don't know the musician Teitur, you are REALLY missing out. In fact, he and his band played at the Doug Fir Lounge last night and we were SO lucky to see the show. He was OUTSTANDING. Both M and I were seriously impressed. Wow, what a talent. You really see what people are made of in live shows and Teitur is just so freaking talented... and HAPPY...and funky.
And for those who might be curious- he likes girls.



BTW- little did we know: apparently the Doug Fir is one of the coolest spots in PDX. This is strange, because it happens to us again and again. So we asked ourselves: how is it that we seem to coincidentally end up at all the coolest places? I guess we are just THAT cool. What else can we conclude? We aren't really ready for the consequences of what this epiphany means. We aspire to be like the desert fathers and Brennan Manning, but can't seem to escape being sucked into the cool-vacuum. And before you protest--I think the desert fathers would have really dug Teitur. Advice anyone? Another BTW- this restaurant and lounge was originally a Sambo's Restaurant, way, way back when. Does anybody else remember Sambo's? My most vivid memory of the place was an ice-cream dish I was extremely fond of; I wish I knew exactly what it was; it was something with little animal crackers stuck on top of it.) But I digress.

Teitur's music is quirky, eclectic and difficult to describe. I got to know him in DK (he's from the Faroen islands) and he's HUGE in Europe, little known in the States. He has a new album out this May called 'The Singer' (which we haven't listened to yet)--but we highly recommend 'Poetry and Aeroplanes'. Last night Teitur called his two biggest hits in the U.S. 'teenager songs to be found on mix tapes'; whatever he calls it, I love them (songs, 'Josephine' (about a childhood playmate) and 'I was just thinkin'.)

Aside from the aforementioned ballads, his style is difficult to describe. That band was SURE having fun, let's just say that.

Check 'em out.

Oh--and opening for Teitur--a girl we'd never heard of who was FANTASTIC--Jessie Baylin. Also hard to describe...kind of Norah Jones but even more soulful and eclectic. Amazing voice, great stage presence and fantastic songs (which I think were her own). Her first album comes out here in June. M and I are very curious how full productions of her songs will sound because Jessie and her guitarist were way more than enough to make us fans. Sometimes full-scale productions can overwhelm core talent and make it sound cliché. We'll see....

A poem.

It is extremely difficult to 'translate' art of any kind. So I hope that the phenomenal Danish poet, Benny Andersen, will forgive me for attempting to give you some of his words in English. But they are so beautiful, so poignant, that I cannot resist.

About Time

It's about time
the water's boiling
the earth is burning
the world is waiting
when Alexander was Caesar's age
he was already The Great
when Caesar was my age, he was already finished
they wasted no time
and time didn't waste them
they used time like a shirt
slept with it on
were buried in it
and here I sit
holding a newspaper
holding Christmas
holding back
letting opportunities pass me by
in hopeless resistance to discovery
the world doesn't wait
when Mozart was 5 years old
when Jesus was 12
when Columbus raised his anchor
when Homer
when Rembrandt
when Pasteur
when Darwin
when Dalgas
when Da Vinci
when Gama
Damocles
it's about time
it's way past the time
my hat
my coat
my pant-leg fasteners
it's now or never

If this were a cheesy radio station, I would dedicate this poem to Marian, Gitte, Michela, Aarhus....and Denmark. I am always missing you. and you are always in my heart.

Oh yes,
I am a farmer.

Or alternatively:
'Visualize whirled peas'



Those who know me well, know that I did not inherit the green-thumb of my mother and grandmother (not sure how my sisters fare at gardening.) This is despite my long-time dream of owning a vineyard. You see, besides faring decently with potted culinary herbs, I have, literally, killed many-a-succulent. No one asks me to house-sit their plants more than once.

But here in PDX, it would seem that I have found my niche. A fresh start. Turned over a new leaf. (I pretty much despise punning so why did I have to go there?) Check out this vegetable garden, which Audrey and I planted from seeds just 2 short weeks ago:



People, this is real stuff growing. I think the stuff is summer squash and snow peas, mainly. (And don't you dare write comments about how squash and peas could grow well in the Sahara desert.)

If I were to divulge my newfound secrets to successful gardening it would be this:
#1: have very low expectations. I expected for nothing to ever come up and look how pleased I am. I will be even more pleased after we catch and kill the cat that we saw digging in my precious lettuce earlier today. Cats are from the devil. If you like them, we cannot be friends.

and #2: live a place where stuff grows.

These roses are also from 'our' garden. Hey, I cut them myself, ok?



For you doubters here are pictures of our actual milkman experience.

The delivery...



The eggs, cream and yogurt...



and finally...
The Milk.