home again in pdx

I got home Sunday night. It has taken awhile to recover from the intensity of my trip -- I worked very hard for nearly a month and coming home was a little like exhaling. Three days after coming home I still have not cracked the gigantic folder of music I must begin to learn for my return trip to kansas in September. Instead, I have snuggled with Sweetie, dealt with errands and gardening upkeep, and enjoyed a bit of hard cider with dinner nightly. I have more errands tomorrow, after which I will return home and get to work.

I've also been riding my bike with a vengeance. I rode so little in Kansas that I really missed it. So every day since getting home I've take lovely, leisurely loops around North and Northeast Portland. Today, knowing that I either had to practice or ride my bike, I opted for the latter. I took along my camera and decided to take pictures of whatever moved me. Today, I was moved -- or disturbed -- by the rapid rise of gentrification in N/NE Portland, and the few holdouts against it (the houses or businesses that have stubbornly refused to get with the times.)

Here are a few shots. The rest can be found at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bethness/sets/72157645412221693/

The only winner in this game is capitalism. And I am very sorry that we have nothing better to offer the next generation than this sorry equation. I have no solution except to document what I see and speak honestly about it, and to keep riding my bicycle while eschewing the car culture that heklps to spwan this glut of excess. Happy riding.