The Furious Spinner

It's been a strange weekend. Sleepy and energetic. Friday Mario and I took a hike at Eagle Creek; then we drove to Portland to watch Fog of War but decided maybe Japanese Story would be less depressing. When Japanese Story was over, we thought about going to Fog of War to cheer ourselves up. Instead we went to a Thai restaurant in the Alberta district of Portland, called Thai Noon. We were able to get vegetarian and organic vegetables. A nice treat. Home again.

Saturday was the day of the big peace rallies around the world. I watched the news in the morning. CNN did less than 60 seconds about all the peace rallies. At 11:00, I walked two blocks down to our peace rally. "We still say NO to war!" It was sunny, chilly, and very windy. Someone played a guitar while others gathered around him, singing along. Several people walked up and down the sidewalk carrying signs. I can't remember now what the signs said! Ah well. It was nice to be among friends. I kept trying to come up with anti-war chants but they were all slightly obscene. We waved to cars. Only one person flipped us off. Many people waved and honked. Three truckers honked. That was new. We've had four rallies now, I believe, and usually the truckers were somewhat hostile. About 20 people attended, down by about half since the war started. Our last rally was before the war.

Mario took his lunch early and came down for the last half 'n hour of the rally. We went home to eat when it was over, and I decided to go to the Portland rally. I tried to find my friends Barbara and Lee who were also going, but I missed them, so I drove myself. I made the hour trip in 45 minutes.

I parked in front of the Fox Tower movie theater, just a couple of blocks from the rally, then ran into Nordstrom's to the bathroom. When I came out, the rally was over and the march had started, so I joined the crowd. I couldn't tell how many people attended—thousands, but I don't know how many thousands. All kinds of people: young, old, middle-aged, well-dressed, ratty-looking. Some carried signs declaring they were veterans against the war, gays and lesbians against the war, mothers against the war, etc. I tried to stay near the drummers. I liked the noise as we walked through the deserted streets of Portland. Lots of people brought their dogs, and of course, the dogs starting fighting with one another. I don't understand why people have to bring their dogs EVERYWHERE. I think it's because they don't know how to interact with people; the dogs act as a buffer.

Whenever we stopped to listen to someone's speech, I stood down near the police. I always try to engage the police at these things, so that—I'm hoping—they see us as human beings. I first talked to a policeman on a bike, dressed in his cute little shorts. That's when we were stopped in front of the Oregonian building. When we stopped in front of the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, I stayed near the men in blue. To my left were several police dressed up in those Nazi-like uniforms. Black, with headgear, lots of weapons and body armor. One woman yelled, "We need better libraries but nice helmet! My kids need better schools but nice assault weapon!" It was great.

At one stop, my friend Linda Short spotted me, so I walked with her and her husband. I felt sort of separate from it all. I'm not sure why. When it was over, I said good-bye to Linda, then went to the Fox Tower Movies. My car was not there. "Shit." I must have thought I parked in front of the movies. I had been in such a hurry. The rally started at 1:00 and I had gotten into town at 1:30. I went over to the next block. No, the cars were parked in the wrong direction. I walked to the next block after that. Right direction. No car. I felt stupid. I'm so accustomed to being with Mario and having the benefit of his attention and his memory. I wondered what I would do. Would Mario drive to Portland and we'd drive around Portland looking for my car? Maybe someone had stolen it. Portland has one of the highest stolen car rates in the U.S.

I stopped, tried to breathe deeply and quell the panic, and looked around. I knew which direction I had parked the car. I knew it was somewhere that looked like it did near the movies. So I walked down a couple of blocks on the same street as the movies. There was a parking lot next to the street where I had parked. And there was my car. Grateful expletives deleted as I unlocked the car and got inside.

Buoyed by the fact I had not lost the car or my mind, I decided to drive to the Thai restaurant and get us take out. As I was going over the beautiful Fremont Bridge, I looked down at Portland and thought about how much I loved this city. Then I saw Mount Hood to my right and Mount Saint Helens to my left, both snow-covered and beyond-beautiful against the blue blue sky. I felt like I was at the heart of the world in that moment. Such joy!

At the restaurant, the young waitress chatted with me about the neighborhood. I always appreciate kindness. Another man was waiting for take-out, too, and he seemed disgusted by my chatter. I thought, "Lighten up. Do you see where you live? Isn't it GREAT?"

I took my take-out and left town. I easily found the expressway and was on my way home, the mountain never growing larger as I sped toward it, until it disappeared behind time and space. I turned up the radio and sang and danced as best I could. A few years ago when I was so sick, I couldn't drive. I certainly could not have navigated a car all over a huge metropolitan city. My brain could not have gotten me from A to C. Today I did it. I was so happy.

Mario and I gratefully munched our take-out and watched a movie. A nice way to spend Equinox and a Dark Moon day.

(I apologize if this sounds too traveloguey. Mario and I went up the Gorge today. Stopped at Catherine Creek but 2 billion other people had the same idea, so we kept going to Maryhill Museum where we walked amongst the outdoor sculptures. It was sunny and warm and I got sleepy, so my brain is a bit fuzzy. I hope you all had a great weekend. Mario just came in the room and showed me apples. I need to get peeling. We're making apple pie!)

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