Eh Bradah, How's It?

This week has been a whirlwind after returning from Hawaii in the middle of the night last Sunday and ankle surgery last Tuesday.   Plus, the Blazers are in the playoffs for the first time in 5 years.  Yeeehaw!

We made the trip to Maui as part of a combined family vacation and visit with my Uncle Daveyboy who's been deep in a battle with prostate and bone cancer since the Holidays.  Good news...after facing near defeat in January, he bounced back with the help of chemo therapy. Advantage Daveyboy.  Besides an occasional stomach pain and sporadic insomnia,  his day-to-day life has returned to a stable state and as he proudly notes "I eat like a horse".  I'm not sure if he means sheer caloric quantity or the bales of leafy Mr. Ed veggies (or both), but he looks great thanks to waves of support from family, friends, angels and caregivers.  

We also overlapped with The Goob (aka my Pop) visiting his Bradah Daveyboy.  The day after arriving, our families spent an afternoon at the uncrowded, wind-protected yet thorn-ridden Malealekelaala (sp?) Beach.  It was surreal to watch The Goob and Uncle Daveyboy cradling little Buddy with a beach backdrop and deep azure ocean.   Then, out of nowhere, Daveyboy whipped out his Bible and questioned our knowledge of John 3:15 to which Bunny point-blank fired off a concise recitation.  We duly noted that Buddy is the only begotten son of Bubby, who is the only begotten son of The Goob.   

"Best ye be begettin' before ye get forgotten" - Bubby Reno, 2009. 

Bunny christened River (aka Buddy Rio) with a new nickname on Maui:  Wubby.  An all-too-appropriate name as the tropical weather revealed layers of "wub" as he turned two (months) on Hawaii.  Wubby also figured out how to sleep 9 hours at night during the trip.  With that kind of sleep, anywhere feels like vacation to newborn parents.  But, it certainly helped to have Heavenly Hana smoothies and fresh Ono grilled fish salads just outside our doorstep.    

We stayed down the road from Uncle Daveyboy's farm, in the quaint little bustling beach town, Paia.  Bunny remembered the charm and good vibe of Paia from our last visit to Maui in 2002 when a 1-month-conceived Lilly Star was going through rapid cell division inside Bunny's belly.  Maybe that's why Lilly's a natural Pacific Islander:   swims like a fish, gracefully hulas with wavy hands, tans effortlessly, and prefers barefeet.  Upon her return, Lilly found the Aloha immediately at the Nalu Kai Lodge.  Our low-key 1960s retro accommodation was easiest to enter directly through the middle of the town's primo gelato shoppe. 

 

Most mornings, we'd wake up really slow and then connect with our Maui family (my Uncle, Aunt and cousins plus Bunny's cousin Kate who lives with her daughter, Zoe Paloma, at the other end of the island), but we also had a neighborly coincidence one sunny morning at the Lodge tiki bar.  

First Bunny whispers, "Don't look now, but I think that guy in the hammock is our neighbor from across the street back in Portland."  Bunny notes familiar faces nearly everywhere she goes, but she's certain that this guy (Ambrosio) is our neighbor, so I encourage her to confirm our destiny.

Meanwhile, Ambrosio's fiance (Melise) is laying on the cordovan watching us watch her groom and thinking, "That little girl looks familiar."  

As it turns out, Ambrosio and Melise were living across from our house for the past two years and remembered Lilly Star as the sweet pixie who would always offer raspberry greetings to her neigbors.  Somehow, we all ended up at the same 9-unit Hawaiian lodge at the same time, so we celebrated with a big tiki Surf & Turf BBQ family dinner to honor both Daveyboy and our new friends/former neighbors.  After marrying on Maui, these lovely newlyweds are off to a honeymoon on the Big Island and new residence in Bavaria.  Ausgezeichnet! 

My Uncle calls these strange, reassuring coincidences Maui Magic.  Believe it baby!

Aloha!

The Power of Community

The past week has been thoroughly inspiring and powerful, starting with a waterfront ride along the banks of the mighty Columbia last Sunday. I had been hearing about the reknowned Marine Park ride for years, but finally ventured along the I-205 bike path far enough North to reach the river. The stunning vistas of a snow-smothered Mt. Hood were complemented by a warm evening breeze and honking migratory water fowl. Sheer beauty.

Besides reflecting breathtaking landscapes, the Columbia River has been generating most of the Pacific Northwest's power renewably for over 70 years. Lilly and I love the old Woody Guthrie song written for the Bonneville Power Administration dam construction program in the 1930s:

"Roooll On Columbia, Roll On. ROOOOOLL On Columbia, ROLL On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, so roll on Columbia roll on."

She's also a big fan of the Busby Berkeley dance routines from the 1930s. We borrowed an awesome compilation of his film sequences from the library shortly after Buddy Rio's birth. If you're not familiar with his mind-bending set designs, check out this primer from the Magnetic Fields Busby Berkeley Dreams. Busby had a gift for visually capturing the modern era's synchronicity necessary to lead us out of the Great Depression with a hopeful determination. Now, here we are again - deep in the waters of economic recession and hopeful that the power of community will float us back to shore.

Each working day last week demonstrated Portland's strength as we collaborate selflessly to serve the greater good of our community. On Monday, the city's foremost green builders gathered in a renovated hall of the old Henry Weinhard's brewery and collectively imagined our nation's first office building designed to achieve the Living Building Challenge.

If the integrated design team is successful, the building's ecological and social benefits will restore habitat and reverse human impacts on global warming all while eliminating utility costs and raising the productivity, health and happiness of the building's occupants.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to present the City of Portland's climate protection steps to a Sunnyside Environmental Middle School Climate Teach-In. The enthusiastic cheers from this eco-crowd reassured me that the responsbility of our children will surely lead us to a stable climate while raising their quality of life to an irreversible standard. Afterwards, I visited Lilly's kindegarten class at Sunnyside where we shared a lego-model of a living house complete with native plant and animal species inhabiting its ecoroof.

On Wednesday, I returned to Weinhard's for a net-zero energy and water technical design sessions for the Living Building ecocharette. Then Thursday, the collaboration continued with the release of a new, local green building standard for small commercial buildings. And finally on Friday, I attended a soft opening for the DaVinci Arts Middle School new music building in our neighborhood -

the nation's first net-zero LEED Platinum freestanding classroom AND a perfectly inspiring intersection between art & science in design. All througout the week, there was a sense of camaraderie and collective accomplishment -- We're all in it together!

The power of Portland's community as we collaboratively bring our sustainable visions to life is nothing short of a design revolution. When shared between like-minded progressive cities, this cultural explosion will surely reinvent how we integrate with our natural systems post-recession.

Spring Smiles!

After a seemingly neverending stretch of chilly rain, today was the first sunny weekend day of the year near 70 and the neighborhood community came out in droves.  Plenty of smiles abound with early Spring blossoms.   Returning from an afternoon Stacatto Gelato-break,  Bunny and Lilly could hardly walk a block without a fond community reconnection from the long Winter.  We are very fortunate to witness our neighborhood emerge from a down-and-out slum into a hip-happenin' hotspot between recessions.  

This past week has also been a transition for Buddy Rio from fleeting daydream smiles to a smile-a-thon everyday.  It's like a daily present that he shares with whoever is willing to receive his gift.  First he gazes right into the eyes of his beholder.  Then, once his focused attention is acknowledged, he goes into a series of smiling contortions and giggles.  The whole process is reciprocally contagious until his next big urp or diaper change.

   

  

Foood Is Goood!

For the past month, we've been receiving a consistent flow of nutritious and delicious meals from friends.  This sweet tradition of nourishing newborn families removes a layer of stress and time commitment that might otherwise drive parents cRAzY.   The food tree setup by our family friend Tracy is finally winding down this week in serendipitous fashion:   last Monday, Bunny accidentally spilled the last few swigs of precious DragonFly Green Chai Tea supplied by my coworker Valerie (and reserved for yours truly), then  seconds later, my DragonFly-Chai-Brewer buddy Atom (who also had a first son/second child a couple of months ago) shows up on our doorstep with a refill of the exact same jar of tea.  UnCANny! 

Not only are we lucky to have a gracious community of refined 

culinary talents but also a bountiful bioregion to boot.  These days, food is SEXY in Portland with new farmer's markets and locavore-friendly restaurants popping up in every neighborhood.  Beside the exceptional quality of produce and healthy meats,  foodie establishments have become a nexus for community connections.  

With our home options diminishing, we ventured out to a new neighborhood breakfast joint yesterday, the 410 Cafe.  Despite the fizzling economy, this modern greasy spoon was recently opened by Morgan,  a dude that art-partied with us back in 2002 and who was also the former chef of the old (and much missed) clarklewis.   

After filling up on smoked trout and poached eggs, we headed to Peoples' Food Coop to get our fill of ingredients for future home-cooked meals.  I love People's because it's about the peoples as much as the groceries.  We shared community with fellow owners including Miles and Paul who had just seen us eating at the 410 Cafe earlier where another People's owner happened to say hello, too. 

Replenished and ready for the week, we headed to the Columbia Gorge for our first adventure outside of Portlad since River's birth.  

Catherine Creek was just far enough East for a rare dose of Spring-Break-Sunshine and blankets of Grass Widow and Gold Star wildflowers.  Lilly requested a visit to the Columbia River last week, and it was so very sweet to share its grandeur together as a family hiking to the top of an unusual basalt volcanic arch.  The day ended with dinner in Bingen and dessert in Hood River, both at restaurants highlighting locally grown organic foods.  

MMMmmmm

...goood!

Happy (Belated) Equinox!

My infatuation with strange coincidences began nine years ago when I started teaching and researching the interconnectedness of natural systems and their cycles. The vernal and autumnal equinoxes provided semi-annual opportunities to raise awareness of random connections, small and large, within our social systems. Along the way I realized that Portland's experience of the equinox occurs a couple of days before the actual celebrated global equinox. For instance on this 'first' day of Spring, the sun will rise in Portland at 7:13 am and set at 7:22 pm resulting in an unequal 12 hours and 9 minutes of daylight. I know it sounds like I'm a stickler for details (and I am ), but a pattern of chaotic community alignment has surfaced on the experiential equinox, and this year that vernal day occured on Wednesday of this week rather than today.

Wednesday was a classic Spring day start to finish: sunny, still, warm and fragrant with a general buzz around town. My work day began at the neighborhood coffee house, Crema, where my green building appointment was a no-show. Although this cancellation could have been frustrating, while waiting I happened to read about an upcoming Clowns Without Borders performance on noneother than March 20 (the 'first' day of Spring!). Tonight will be our third year enjoying one of our family's favorite performances in Portland, and every year this poorly advertised event catches our attention last-minute.

During the lunch hour, I was out skateboarding errands around the Pearl District and ran into Pablo, a former message therapist, at Tanner Springs Park. We crossed paths a few months ago, and I later regretted that we didn't exchange contact info, so this time our chance encounter was much appreciated (especially for my future health and well-being). I started skating loops around Tanner Springs Park regularly a few months ago as a therapy for an ankle injury. It's a pretty lonely park with nary a visitor which makes it great for escaping into skating.

But, on my second loop around the park, I ran into our family friends, Sonja and Vinny, soaking up the sun. Visits with those two are always robust with energy and inspiration. Five-year-old Vinny tried riding my board and discovered that wiping out can be half the fun of leraning to skate.

Back at Ecotrust in the afternoon, I ran into Shawn, an enlightened Mathematics professor, and his wife Lori enjoying lunch in the sun. Our brief catching-up quickly evolved into a long, hopeful conversation about the potential for alternative socioeconomic systems that benefit humans and their environments collectively. Back in my teaching days with Shawn, I developed a hypothesis related to the cyclical nature of population growth: the rate of mutually beneficial encounters is inversely proportional to the rate of population growth.

So as population stabilizes (which it is) the frequency of strange coincidences increases exponentially, and hopefully we are just at the tipping point of all this synchronicity stuff.

The sun is rising and Lilly just gleefully shouted, "Mama and Dada, Happy First Day of Spring!", so I better get back to the real world.

The Urper

Buddy Rio's Cheese Factory continued to be in business all week, but at lease we are figuring out how to minimize the messiness.  After seeking parental advice from multiple families, the baby-spit-up factor turns out to be quite common throughout Portland and even has a bonafide medical term:  gastroesophageal reflux.   

On Wednesday, Dr. Judy shared a much more practical term for Buddy's condition:  Urping.  Sort of like burping except the esophageal release of a gassy bubble is accompanied by a milky projectile.   Also on Wednesday, our 'Share the Road' license plate replacements arrived in the mail from the Department of Motor Vehicles.   I asked Lilly to employ her recently-developed phonetic skills to sound out the new license plate ID letters, "Duh-rrr-puh-rrr".  That's right folks - somehow the lovely State of Oregon randomly selected four letters explaining River's newborn medical condition. 

Although Portland's reputation for rain tends to be exaggerated, this last weekend of Winter was windy and water-logged.  Rather than staying holed-up inside the house going stir-crazy with Da Urper, Lilly and I planned an outing to Portland's latest and greatest ode to sustainable recreation:  The East Portland Aquatic Center.  

This new community pool and water park is housed in the City of Portland's first certified LEED Platinum building under a green building policy administered by my office crew.  Ever since opening last month, I've been eagerly awaiting the opportunity  to experience the ample daylighting, solar-powered machinery, super energy-efficient water heating, fresh ventilation, and super slick water slide.  The experience is much like being in Hawaii with a bunch of little kids screaming with pure joy!  We were serendipitously joined by old family friends, Emily and Harry, who shared the same midwives with us six years ago.   They made a surprise visit in the morning to meet Baby River which led to an impromptu swim date in the afternoon.   The return home was complemented by an arcing rainbow reminding us that even the rainiest of days can have a silver lining.  As the Hawaiians say, "No rain, no rainbows." 

Wild Feminine

After two weeks of welcoming Buddy Rio into the world marveling over his mild temperament and sweet disposition, the heavens seemed to be smiling upon us.   This little guy would be easy going we thought, and baby-rearing would be a comparitive piece of sweet cake,  like a calm stretch of River flowing from bend to bend.  Aaaaaahhhh...

However, I returned to work last Monday, and suddenly we hit a  spell of raging rapids.  Sure, he's Mister Mellow, except when violently spitting up Mama's milk.  For two days straight, he was a big ball of fussy cheese as random projectiles resulted in frequent wardrobe changes for everyone involved.

Finally on Wednesday afternoon, there was a slight reprieve as Dr. Judy gave him a tummy adjustment, from rock hard to soft and supple.  Afterwards, while refilling his new found belly in the Doc's office, a book on the shelf caught Bunny's eye, Wild Feminine: Finding Power, Spirit, & Joy in the Root of the Female Body.  

Lori, the receptionist, raved about the wonders within and promptly passed it on.  Then, at Bunny's next appointment, a postpartum check-in, Dr. Mary recommended treatment by a physical therapist located across the street: Tami Kent who also happens to be the author of Wild Feminine!  This string of coincidental events is so tightly wound that it all happened over the course of two hours within 10 blocks of one another all in our neighborhood.   Bunny walked home refreshed and hopeful.

That evening, little Rio returned to his normal meekiness and after dinner I reminded him, "We're working really hard to help you feel better Buddy."  He responded with his first big, wide-eyed grin.  Whew!  But, the next two days were spent back in the projectile cheese factory.  More treatments from Dr. Judy and emphatic burping advice from our postpartum doula were hapless.  At one particularly low point, Bunny hit a wall of exhausted and humiliated auto-repeat, "He covered my crotch.  He covered..."  

By Friday, I came up with a hypothesis and noted an empirical pattern:  Buddy laying on his back = Buddy spitting up; Buddy laying on his belly = happy Buddy boy!  Problem nearly solved except when he needs a diaper change, or we follow a primal urge to cradle him in our arms.  Friday, was also a particularly lovely Spring day (for Winter) as Lilly and I relished a chance to cruise the Springwater Corridor trail returning from a playdate in Sellwood.   We stopped our bikes along the banks of the Willamette River for a short break admiring a pair of bald eagles perched on Ross Island as the warm sun set.  Once again, a sweet stretch of calm has flowed back into our lives as Buddy Rio charts our next course.  

Although sleep-deprived and chore-ridden, we had a lovely family weekend and tonight Jill is planning to attend a Powell's Book reading by none other than the aforementioned Tami Kent!  The auspicious timing of this literary event is a blessing in Bunny's birthing recovery.

Gratitude

The 'puter is back with a repaired right speaker.  In concert with a couple of stereo speakers that I wired onto our living room walls yesterday morning, all sounds good in the House of Bubby.

It's been a fine week sans cyberspace with a string of caregiver serendipity.  Last Friday, Marilyn midwife came by for a 3-day-post-partum home visit and noted that the last baby she delivered on her birthday (over a decade ago) was also named River.  Perhaps her dual River deliveries also coincided with the last planetary alignment 12 years ago.   Woo-woo!

Then on Saturday morning, Dr. Stephanie stopped in for a rejuvenating cranial sacral family treatment.   When my uncle was here last summer, a German friend gave him a cranial sacral treatment for his cancer resilience and explained a bit of the process: moving around spinal fluid and magnetic fields.  Cranial sacral energy balancing remains a mystery to me, but I like its results.  On my previous treatment with Dr. Stephanie, I walked out of her office thinking that I should call our friend Scott.  It was just before Christmas, and Bunny was looking for holiday sheet music specific to flutes by request of her Sis in Seattle.  Being a former music store owner and all-around music afficionado, we figured Scott would know where to start our search.  As I pulled away on my bike from the Doc's office, a station wagon nearly ran into me.  Sure enough the driver was Scott who led us straight to finding this obscure request.  Cosmic!

Finally Sunday afternoon, Vicki, our postpartum doula, assited Bunny with the transition into nursing and reassured her innate mothering capability.  She also prescribed a long bike ride to me before inevitably burning out (Bunny has been calling me the Energizer Bubby!).   Earlier I had a vision of biking through the forest despite the fact that our mountain bikes have been out of commission for over a decade.   Yet just before dusk, the vision came alive, and I found myself riding on a 15-mile trek through Forest Park, at one point, cruising peacefully along a 3-mile stretch of single-track as the city lights flickered on the horizon.  Just what the Doc ordered!

Bunny deserves plenty of accollades for carrying and birthing Buddy for the last 10 months, but I am also deeply grateful for our commnity of alternative health professionals who helped all along the way:  Dr. Judy's adjustments to the family's alignment,  Dr. Mary's inducing accupuncture, Nicola's comforting accupuncture, Dr. Ed's ultrasounds, Cecily's massage, and Sirender's yogi guidance plus Lilly-douling.   Combined with our midwives, Dr. Stephanie and Vicki, these folks delivered a happy and healthy pregnancy, birth and son into our lives.  

Namaste!

What's Next?

We enjoy having Unity's Daily Word around for inspiration and reminders of collective spirit.  Concurring with the planetary alignment on February 17th, the theme-of-the-day was "Harmony".  And, yesterday's "Accomplished" was even more fitting considering the last 10 months of baby-making that Bunny endured bringing River from conception to birth, 

"It's finished - a success!  Perhaps my dream was to complete an important project, or create a beautiful work of art, or host an outstanding event.  Now that it's done, I may ask myself, What's next?"

Indeed, what is next in store for us? TBD. Possibilities seem infinite when adoring a newborn's eyes and mini expressions.  For now, a bit of computer maintenance is next on our horizon.  In the meantime, here are some pics and You Tube videos of Buddy Rio.