October leftovers

Where we stayed in Portland had more than four kinds of
coffee makers (the pod coffee thing was behind me).

The oldest sidewalk marking I have seen.
There were also markings on each corner
that named the street about to be crossed.

After all these years I just learned I can take my own
containers to the grocery store that has a bulk section!

They are ready for crowds at the Oktoberfest
celebration at the high school

My very old skirt got caught in the bicycle brake.
I have not decided what to do about it.

Hard at Work

Yes, I could just re-post my work photos from six years ago, but another sweet baby means more sweet pictures.

We take a lot of walks, including to fountains on campus.
J. seems to like watching the water and watching the students.

All the watching is tiring!

It seems that the best part of storytime
is seeing what all the big kids are doing.

Sometimes we just hang out and look at the leaves being
moved by the wind, which is also a nice chance to snuggle.

I am so lucky that once a week I have the best helper
and biggest laugh-getter hanging out with us.

Almost ready

We had company over

to carve pumpkins

and I put some holiday books in the library.

Of course I had to add to my TJoes sticker collection.

We also have candy so I hope you will stop by on Thursday.

Quick trip to Oregon - the main event

D.'s former colleague was being inaugurated as Reed College's sixteenth president and we attended the installation ceremony.

You can watch the whole thing by clicking the image above.

The odd sound you hear during the event is rain.

I had checked the weather hourly for a week or two.
That wasn't wise because the forecast was completely wrong.
At least I knew not to wear a dress and to bring extra layers. 

I love seeing all the academic regalia.

On each chair in the above picture was a program with a bookmark. I am embarrassed to say that I was not so fond of mine so I traded with someone (the spouse of the person next to me, the one who told me that strange noise was rain). In the end there were extra bookmarks and I was able to collect each kind. Except the original one I had. Insert sad face emoji here.

I didn't take any other photos but here are some from the official gallery.

speeches

Investiture of the President

Dancing with NRBQ (the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet)

 Wishing President Bilger and Reed College all the best!

Quick trip to Oregon - the great outdoors

It took me a long time to complete my morning run because I decided to carry my phone and kept stopping to take pictures.

There was a whole block of chestnut trees!

I was surprised to find so many of the American Chestnuts.

And was grateful to find so many of the kind I call buckeyes.
Thanks, TSA, for letting me bring so many home!

So green!

So mossy!

We took a beautiful walk around the canyon

And saw a wooly bear caterpillar! 

What a beautiful fall day!

And one picture for the City of Roses

Quick trip to Oregon - books

We had some time to explore before the main event 

so we toured the neighborhood to find little free libraries.

I loved wandering around and connecting with
my people, leaving a book and taking a book.

And what is a trip without a stop at the public library?

Even our housing came with a shelf of books
and a sign reading, "Feel free to take a book."

The one thing I don't have a picture of is the place I spent the longest.

Powell's Bookstore was so overwhelming I forgot to take a picture. I thought about buying A. a role-playing game book. I eventually found the section and it was so enormous I couldn't figure out how to pick one. If I make it back I will be more prepared.

Quick trip to Oregon - transportation

People complain about air travel,
but I thought it was great to have a cup of
coffee and a chance to catch up on newspapers.

We caught the light rail at PDX and arrived at our stop 

after crossing the Willamette River.

Even though it was a bit steep, it was
nice to see that there was a rail for
rolling a bike up or down the stairs.

We chose our place to stay because it came
with two bicycles, including lights, helmets, and a lock.
It was great to find covered parking!