"Take a Walk in the Park" Day

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Today, March 30th, 2014 is national "Take a Walk in the Park" day. Don't worry if you can't get out to a park today; April 2nd is The American Heart Association's "National Walk Day." So you have two chances this week to participate in a national step-away-from-the-computer-and-move day.

We have so many parks in Portland, it would be impossible to list them all. And why should I? We do have the Parks & Recreation "Find a Park/Facility" website. It is information packed and you can search for a specific area of Portland or for specific amenities/activities.

I thought I would highlight a few of my favorite in town parks. There are certainly more. And with a little bit of a drive, we can have pretty much whatever we want in terms of the surface under our feet. That's one of the great things about living here: within a few hours, we can have a larger metropolitan setting (Seattle), the high desert (Bend, the Painted Hills), the cliffs and water activities of the Columbia River Gorge, the Oregon Coast - pick your favorite for view or walking or shopping or hiking, and the fields and the Willamette Valley to the south, and with a little longer drive - probably an overnight trip - the rivers and rocks and theater of Southern Oregon.

Where is your nearest park? Or your favorite park. For me, the nearest is just a short walk up the hill and I'm at the entrance to Mount Tabor Park.

A sampling of parks around Portland.

Forest Park : great hikes and trails, a forest in the city. It's beautiful and there are many options.

Laurelhurst Park : an inner city lake, with plenty of trees, a playground, picnic tables, and a trail around this very inner city park. Great if you need a trail with little incline and self-contained. I would say it's nearly impossible to truly get lost, although don't take that as a challenge.

 Springwater Corridor : this is definitely a park for the active outdoor users and it goes for miles; literally - 21 miles. It has a multi-use trail for walkers and bikers. It goes through town from along the waterfront of the Willamette River out through East Portland and clear out to Boring.

 Powell Butte Nature Park : wildlife and trails and trees and shrubbery in the 'burbs. This is a beautiful park. But I'm including it because of a fond memory. A friend and I went here a few years ago and it was beautiful. It was a great day. I had my new hiking boots (red flag number one) and it was on the edge of town (not too far of a drive from where we were) and despite there not being a trail guide in the book in which we had found it (red flag number two), it was small and we knew we'd be fine. (Isn't confidence a great thing!) The trail guide maps were out at the trailhead (we were still confident; the book had said something about following the animals stamped or carved into markers along the trails). And we were having a great time. The markers were not so clear or were missing. And we kept walking. And walking and felt a bit like we were going in circles, but, no, we couldn't be. And then we knew we were. We searched for a way out and - well, obviously we did eventually find out way out. It wasn't funny when we finally got out of this little forested nature park four hours after we intended to be home. But it is funny now and a fond memory. It was early in our "let's go for a hike" days and we learned so much. And we were fine. It is beautiful and worth another trip.

And, of course, Mt, Tabor Park : It has water, hills, stairs, flowers, trees, playgrounds, trails. It is gorgeous with gorgeous views. An extinct volcano right here in town.








There are many parks. Pick by area. Pick by activity. Pick randomly! Just pick one and go for a walk.
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NaNoWriMo Day 9: Words Hard Won

This was not an easy writing today. Up until now, the novel has flowed - for the most part. The scenes have come easily - most of the time. The characters show up and interact - most days.

But today, on the NaNoWriMo writing marathon day? No, writing was not easy. That's okay; I know that is a part of the process. I have also done NaNoWriMo enough to know that week two is a hard one. The exhilaration of another NaNovember and a new novel are wearing off (perhaps; for some authors). The story has taken twists and turns, not as expected. For a myriad of reasons, week two the writing starts to slow and the momentum can be harder to keep up with.

And that's what happened today.

I set everything up. Ready to write. Ready for the muse and a day of fantastic writing and lots of words. And.

I did make a little over the daily average to reach 50k. But it took a many hours. It required taking a break to finish loading the dishwasher and running it. It required doing a load of laundry from beginning to end. It required the snacks and good food I bought as incentive and as reward. It required henna-ing my hair (which, it really was time, and this was my last opportunity until about the 20th).

But I did it. I wrote just under 1800 words today and am closing the laptop with 18750; still ahead of schedule.

I also finished up and posted a poem in the Literary Kitchen poetry class I'm taking from Daphne Gottlieb.

It was, overall, a good writing day. I will even admit to it being productive. Just a little less productive than I had hoped.

But a good writing day. And I still have my word bank intact.

I also have enough time left for a little more Wii.

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