So, Chelsea headed back east earlier in December, and Ben is now at PDX awaiting his flight home for the holidays, which leaves Jon and I here in Oregon for Christmas. Although it’s a bit of a bummer to not be home with family for Christmas, Jon and I have plans to head to Camp Myrtlewood for the holiday. I am seriously looking forward to a few days of reading, walking in the woods, and just relaxing! And seeing another part of the state is a bonus!
We took in our fair share of Portland Christmas festivities this weekend, which included everything from the lights on Peacock Lane (the street even has it's own website) to sighting the Christmas Ships (more like small boats) on the Willamette River, to Peace Church’s big Christmas party at Kerby’s house. The Christmas party was an evening spent with lots of people, lots of food, lots of people, lots of gifts, and did I mention? Lots of people. For sure it was the most extensive Chinese Gift Exchange I have ever been a part of, (you know- the game where you can either unwrap a gift or steal someone else’s already opened gift), with about 50 gifts up for grabs. Yes, 50. So, our house came home with gifts that were a pretty good representation of the assortment available. My new acquisition: a pair of mittens made from parts of wool sweaters. Ben’s new possession: a ceramic manger scene. And for Jon: some peanut brittle- and he made it very clear that Ben and I were not to devour it, as we customarily do with sweets.
On another topic…I relearned a lesson this week that I thought I had learned well while in Northern Ireland, but apparently not well enough. Lesson relearned: Plan an event and do it rain or shine. If you wait around for a sunny day, you may spend a long time waiting.
Joe and Julie, friends of mine from Virginia who are now living in Portland too, graciously loaned me their car while they are back east for the week. What an opportunity this presents for us folk who usually depend on public transportation or our own feet as a means of getting around. After the announcement of a car in our possession: “We should go hiking,” Jon, Ben, and I practically exclaimed in unison! But, wouldn’t fate have it that the forecast was calling for a dusting of snow with a 100% chance of rain throughout the day on Saturday. Seriously? Can we not have just a few hours of sunshine, or even just the absence of precipitation falling from the sky? So, with this dismal (but pretty typical) weather forecast on Friday night, Jon, Ben, and I pretty much ditched the idea of a Saturday hike. And while it may have been drizzling at 7 in the morning while we were still all tucked in our beds…I am pretty sure that no other raindrops fell to the ground between the hours of 9 and 4. Plenty of time and decent enough weather for a great hike somewhere, right? But alas, we had already slept away the morning and had procrastinated making our gifts for Kerby’s party, so there would be no hike. Lesson learned…sometimes it’s better to just ignore the weather report and follow your heart (which usually calls me outside). ☺
So, with all of that said, rain or shine, Jon and I are both hoping to get outdoors and do some walking in the woods down at Myrtlewood! Merry Christmas!
- Heather
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