I slept until 11:30 in the morning yesterday, then BoringFish called to see if I was okay, or wanted to hang out or anything. I said I’d love to, so we went and got sushi and talked for a long time, which I’ve really misssed. We both love going on little random day trips, so we agreed to take one sometime soon.

Then I texted Susan if she wanted to play some classical stuff last night, and she wrote back, “How about dinner and Bach at 7?” Perfect.

So we went to Trader Joe’s and combined stir-fried shrimp and a bunch of veggies, cheese and fresh basil over little tiny pasta (that I can’t remember the name of. Looks like shells. . .?) SO GOOD. I wasn’t going to add pictures, but what the heck. Here’s the work in progress:

So then we played through a bunch of pieces that her wedding group plays. I can’t wait to be a good enough classical cellist to be able to play in an orchestra or better yet, a small ensemble. Times like last night are great; it’s how I learn what’s expected of a cellist in a group like that.

So this morning I slept in until 11:30 again, and then went to explore down in the old part of downtown Portland, in the Goose Hollow/Portland Heights neighborhoods. I love that part of town, with the windy old streets, and the stairways that are built into the hillsides. I tried to find cool old houses to take pictures of. I couldn’t really get to the places I had in mind, so I think I may have to go on foot instead. There’s a whole big network of stairways and sidwalks up there, so when the weather’s a little nicer, I’m heading out.

I did find my favorite house in town:

I stumbled onto it on a bike ride once, and I check in on it from time to time to see how its restoration is coming along. It’s not, apparently. The house has been in the same lived-in/falling-apart condition for ages. I’m sure it’ll cost a fortune to have it fixed up, but it’s really an amazing place, with huge stained-glass windows and all the original Victorian trim.

I continued my journey around the West Hills, and at one point ended up on a dead end, where the hill was so steep, and the houses so frickin’ high that the only way to take a picture was through the sunroof:

No good ‘artsy’ pictures to share, unfortunately. The light was kinda weird, and I couldn’t find the places that I wanted to get to. Southwest Portland is such a maze of curves and dead ends that it’s going to take a day of exploration, and my heart just wasn’t in it today.

And can I just say that the roads in town SUCK. All of downtown is such a patchwork of potholes, closed streets, and shoddy fixes that it’s physically painful to drive down there now. My poor little car was really working hard today, dealing with those steep hills and crappy roads, and I was getting tired of being bumped around, so I gave up pretty quick.

But there’s definitely a story in the hills, waiting to be told, and plenty of good pictures too.