High Times in Portland and a birthday to remember!

Hey everyone! We're back from the lush Northwest and our dear Portland didn't disappoint with her gray, rainy weather, which at 50 degrees felt like a tropical spa to us! My skin has never felt so silky smooth!

But the real fun was to bask in the love and glow of our beloveds there in stumptown. It truly was a whirlwind tour, and I know we should have booked a few weeks to really get in all the time we needed with people. Kathie Gray was a delightful hostess, and we got to spend time with our homies the Jacksons, Plies, Grays, Duddlestons, Ruthie, Selvey contingent, DiGis, Cedar Lodge crew, McDevitt/Lyons duo, plus the many awesome spouses and lovahs (some of whom we were meeting for the first time!). We feel richly blessed by the amazing family we've got in that damp, green town. It truly is a gift to be able to drop in to relationships as if no time has past after a year and a half spent apart. WE LOVE YOU PEOPLE! WE'D TAKE A BULLET FOR YOU! Though there were some tears on the way home, I have to say the feeling of good fortune, of having such deep friendships in our lives, has kept us from feeling too sorry for ourselves.

Despite hard goodbyes, it was nice to get back to the stillness of the farm - to see the (bigger) baby (who is making many new sounds and is more hilarious than ever) and my equine and feline pals. Getting back to the routine has its benefits. Yesterday was my birthday, and I have to say I have a feeling 34 is going to be the best year ever. I got some awesome gifts from the fam - gardening clogs from Becca and Chris and tasty wine and accessories from Tom and Lynda, along with some fancy hand cream from Greg and Emily and a subscription to Atlantic Monthly from Nathan and Barbara! But I have to say I was most surprised by the one from my honey: HE'S BUILDING ME A SLEIGH. FOR GIDEON TO PULL US AROUND IN. With Bill Beyrer's help, of course. The card he constructed was probably the best part, and when we get our internet (It's really happening! Excitement! Fear! Can I limit myself? Do we need to be "connected" this way? Technology on the farm! Oy! Mixed feelings!) I'm DEFINITELY downloading a photo of this masterpiece for all of you to enjoy. Let's just say it involves Flannery riding in a sleigh. I'm not giving you any more! My mom and dad are coming out for a Pizza Extravaganza night (Jay's making a deep dish and Chris is making his classic Neapolitan) for dinner tonight so mom and I can celebrate our birthdays together. Good times, noodle salad!

On my walk today, on the wildlife super highway, I found deer tracks, rabbit tracks, some larger cat (perhaps of the bob variety) tracks and - best of all - baby raccoon tracks behind momma raccoon tracks. Those things crack me up!

I'm going to close with a small rant. Get this: we live about 1 mile away from a dairy farm. If we want to get milk, we have to drive 12 miles in to Colfax and either spend $4 a gallon for conventional milk that has been shipped from Minnesota or $7 a gallon for organic milk that has been shipped from (yes) OREGON! What is wrong with this world?!? The other crazy component is that our neighbors, who extract milk from cows for a living and who live easy walking distance away from us, ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SELL THEIR MILK TO US BECAUSE OF STATE LAW! WHAAAAAAAT!? Needless to say, we're trying to get around this red tape by setting up a barter system. Stick it to the man! (yes we'll pasturize the milk ourselves, worriers).

Love and hot milk fresh from a bovine tit to all,

Charis