__smoochyquemas_ PeeT smoochyquemas _smoochyquemas _smoochyquemas_ we wanted to get off mt. hood before sunset so we left extremely satisfied and a bit cold, slowly rolling down the snow-covered road with caution, saying goodbye to the dignified firs as they bathed in the glow of magic hour. plans were set for spending the night at an urban guest/farmhouse called tierra soul in sw portland near the historic mississippi ave. section. we slithered our way amongst the commuter traffic, transitioning ourselves from mountain solace to residential buzz with anticipative impetus. we exited the highway and scanned the area for our street, finding it just as a chihuahua barked a throaty threat, appearing stiff and comically menacing in the front yard of a neighboring house. its owner, an obese woman in a flowered mumu waddled after it as we parked in front of our destination and immediately noticed the devil strip was cultivated and ready for planting. actually the entire quarter acre was garden plot. no one was there when we arrived, but there was a personalized note on the key box and a phone number to reach the caretaker, a girl named caitlin who was presently away but could be reached for the code. we were hoping to meet the arias family (from the website: "We are the Arias Clan, chief mischief makers, dreamers, inventors and creators of Tierra Soul. We are urban farmers, wanna be change-the-world-ers, and guardians of ancestral knowing. We are a small family struggling to find a new way in an crumbling old world. We love sharing with people from around the world about how to do that. We created Tierra Soul as an experiment, as a practice project. We had a dream and we tossed it out to the internet ethers. It took off, and we have been catching up ever since. Tierra Soul is an experiment in the power of Traditional Wisdom and Ancestral Ways, but also in evolution and the Indigenous Soul that resides in each and every one of us. Our dream is that, one by one, we would all recover this Indigenous Self, stop wondering who owns culture and get to the work of creating it.") but unfortunately they were away in mexico. the place actually made us feel at home for much of it reminded us of the quaint, quirky, all-out art splay of robin_hill. upon entering, there was a huge chalkboard that already contained bits of communication between caitlin and two other guests occupying the downstairs room. the house was built in 1913 and had been intricately restored, maintaining a consistent charm that led us along the wooden floors, where skylights, vintage furniture, antique musical instruments, old drawers used as shelves, and original paintings formed a mosaic of delicate, earthly coziness. one of two resident cats, a fluffy black and white female who we subsequntly learned was named chuchi, greeted us. she became a constant companion, reflecting the obvious peace and friendliness that the many international guests bring. her companion, an all black short-haired male named beetle appeared as we explored the property outside. he was just as chummy and would later wake me up in the middle of the night asking to join me in bed. meandering stone paths led to the sides of the yard where garden plots, cleaned up from fall were all tilled, awaiting spring. in the corner of the back there was a small fenced enclosure that housed two alpaca goats and five chickens. other plans for the evening included an arranged visit from our fourth "daughter" kara, (kaya and jacobs dream on red) who grew up with our girls, circled danced to rusted root, relished the yearly cuckoofest, was a bridesmaid in beth's wedding, and then met shawn. the two them journeyed to portland and are presently working with a communal/care home in the willamette valley. while we were upstairs in our room unpacking, we heard kara's familiar voice calling from downstairs. 120415 ... PeeT the first time i met shawn was at beth's halloween party back in 2007. he came as a leprechaun with face painted green and hair dyed red. the second time he visited us at robin_hill and ate tiger lilies straight out of the garden. he and kara lived with us for three months before they headed to portland. he impressed me with his tireless work ethic(weekly push mowing of an acre of grass/ daily solo patio construction for kara's parents new home),zen approach to life, and a deep appreciation for everything true and simply real. beholding kara and him suddenly appear at the top of the stairs was memory taking sudden illustrious form. treasured friends from the past all at once present in a novel location is an event of rare beauty. it was a great effort for them to meet with us for they were heavily involved in work, giving tireless days bringing their dream to life. and so we took them to dinner at their suggestion; a gluten free place called, "old wives tale." we talked about the intensity of their project. getting it licensed by the state of oregon was tough and required months of tedious specification work. we could hear the strain in their voices. nevertheless and the greatest news of all: THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! 120417 ... PeeT it was well after sunset when we returned to tierra soul. the four of us lingered in the quiet street by our cars trying to suspend time but relinquishing, feeling the unavoidable tug of the earth's turn. it is always so hard to say goodbye. to embrace and know that moments will fade, blur and time will separate us. yet, sensing there are little pieces of each one of us within and they will somehow grow, just like the plants near our feet pushing through the moist soil. comforting it was realizing the next time we would see them would be back in pennsylvania for their wedding. back inside the house, we met the caretaker caitlin, a 30's, energetic spirit with long straight hair and an artist's jaunt. she explained the absence of the arias family, the idiosyncrasies of chuchi and beetle and her committed involvement with tierra soul. she had grown up in boston, traveled a bit about the world with her schooling and ended up with her current gig in the way one does when they are open, confident, fearless, and passionate, all of this evident in her friendly demeanor and engaging personality. she was also an accomplished painter with many of her realistically-washed pieces gracing the walls around us. she was occupying one of the two upstairs rooms and told us about tamara and cristi, a couple from san diego who were on a northwestern odyssey. they had spent time in san francsico and were presently spending their last night of a week long stay in the downstairs room. 120419 ... PeeT the bed reminded me of something my grandmother would have slept in, all high off the floor in its own elevated space and tight sheets and covers. i slept deep except for when beetle woke me with a plaintive meow. caitlin had warned me he would visit during the night. chuchi and beetle may wrestle in the hallway, she added. they didn't. i was the first one down the stairs searching for coffee and ran into caitlin as she was preparing her gear for a day of snowboarding at mt. hood. i shared a bit of my experience with her and she said she was doing another place near timberline called ski west. she pointed me to the coffee and muffins. i also ran into tamara. she was thin, but slightly masculine in a boy/girl kind of way, a look i was beginning to see more frequently. her hair was buzzed and chopped short. she wore a tank top with yoga pants. i noticed a type-written tattoo on her inner arm. i asked her what it said. she twisted her arm up and read: "be like a postage stamp. stick until you get there." 120420 ... PeeT it was engaging. we discussed its meaning and other random philosophies. she is a collector of found papers. i showed her my journal from which a lot of these stories are documented. i asked her to repeat her tattoo so i could write it down. she showed me a card she made for caitlin. they became good friends in the week the three of them shared. i could see why. tamara was forward, yet respectful of the place in between us. we were inhabits of disparate continuums, yet collided carefully, becoming something in the carved niche. she was just really nice, opening windows, letting the warm morning air in. we also chatted about music and concerts. she told me they had been to the doug fir, a club in portland to see the crocodiles. kathy came down and entered the scene, adding her motherly attention to her charcteristic welcome greeting. it was fascinating to watch the two of them meet and grow in their acquaintance. rynomari is affecting and alluring, a shiny thing that a bird picks up. we are. we were. on her way back to the room, tamara was met by cristina in the sky light-lit hallway and politely introduced us. she was the girl of the couple. her hair was longer. she was dressed similarly, with a few tattoos but also strange bruises on the underside of her inner arms. she was a stylist with paul mitchell, but here she was sans make-up, bed-headed and bleary-eyed. we discovered it was tamara's birthday. cristina wrote about it on the communal chalkboard. they were going to stay at the ace to celebrate. so of course we told them about our fascinating stay and the wonders of clyde common. kathy later urged me to make a birthday card for her so i did, using the words of her tattoo as the text. 120421 ... PeeT we walked around the bend to mississippi avenue, figuring we'd see tamara and cristina later. there was a breakfast spot we heard about called "gravy." we found it amongst the bevy of cool shoppes. other than way too many onions in my eggs, it hit the spot. we chatted up our server a bit, trying to get some cultural confirmations on things we heard about the area. she was helpful as most people are in portland and so with onion breath, we hit the streets on a strolling tour. ever seen the ifc show, "portlandia?" turns out we ended up in a shoppe called "land" (with the simple cloud and bear logo) where the infamous "put a bird on it" episode was shot. it's a waldorf/montessori lover's store that features several bird embellished items which kathy could not help but connect with the show. the owner explained her friendship with carrie brownstein, how they both grew up in olympia, washington and said when the scene was shot the director brought in all their own items so the bird could fly in and knock everything down. kathy discovered "found" magazine on the book rack and bought it for tamara's birthday. it's all about people who find papers(shopping lists, love letters, break-up notes, recipes, pink slips, report cards, photos, etc.) on the ground and then send them to the magazine for publishing. it was definitely one of those kismet moments, undeniably orchestrated by the kharmaster. next stop was a shoppe called, "black wagon." since kathy is a nanny and i am a part time children's entertainer, we are suckers for children's toy stores, especially the extraordinary ones. we found so many unique must-haves that we ended up shipping them back home. the girl running the place was from sacremento. she seemed genuinely intrigued by us, perhaps it was because we bought so much, but our conversation was quite engaging. i even brought red fred (little stuffed dog from ski school) out from my jacket pocket for a few words and laughs. final stop was pistil's nursery to make me swoon. i especially loved the chicken coop in the back garden area. using groundcover flats on the roof was genius. back to tierra soul to give tamara her card and gift. unfortunately they were gone, their goodbyes scrawled lovingly in colored chalk across the blackboard. 120423 ... PeeT we were surprised they were gone. we really wanted to see how she would react. kathy was quite sad actually and i have always tried to change that if possible so i suggested dropping the gifts off at the ace hotel since that was next on their agenda. "it will be waitng for them when they get there," i offered. kathy liked that idea. our plans were to drive west to the coast at manzanita so stopping off there was first priority. we said goodbye to chuchi and beetle, signed the guest book with a drawing, and then headed back to the city. step one was to drop off the gift and card with the desk but kathy's joyful reaction upon coming back to the jeep demanded my inquiry. "she was checking in when i got there!" "WHAT?!" yeah. so that's how things happen for us. 120430 ... PeeT Tom Waits describes his wife as "a remarkable collaborator, and she's a shiksa goddess and a trapeze artist, all of that. She can fix the truck. Expert on the African violet and all that. She's outta this world. I don't know what to say. I'm a lucky man. She has a remarkable imagination. And that's the nation where I live. She's bold, inventive and fearless. That's who you wanna go in the woods with, right? Somebody who finishes your sentences for you." there was an unmistakable, wafting glow of accomplishment when kathy returned to the jeep, an unearthly aura i've seen surrounding her many times in our 31 years of marriage. she told me the story of running into tamara with fingers on the iphone, gps-ing us to the sea, not skipping a beat. giving herself to others is what she does best. 120501 what's it to you? who go blather from