Shite happens

Fresh-cut flowers

A co-worker and I made plans to have lunch Wednesday, so when the noon hour approached yesterday I looked forward to getting some fresh air and strolling down to the farmers market just west of our office.

We followed our noses to Hoda's Middle Eastern booth and ordered garlicky chicken shwarma, then found ourselves a place to sit while the Portland Metro Youth Pipe Band performed a few songs on bagpipes for the lunchtime crowd near the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.

Afterward, I ambled through the labyrinth of booths laden with organic produce and eggs, gourmet cheeses and other good stuff. Bought myself a pound of bing cherries and a bouquet of flowers for Lori, then headed back to the office while my friend Cornelius split off to get a cup of coffee.

Back at my desk, I thought, "What a nice break from the routine." And I settled in to resume my work.

But then...a smell...and not a very good one. Looked down and there it was, a souvenir from the street. Fresh dog doo, filling the crevices of the waffle sole on my left shoe. Yecch.

Grabbed some paper towels and a plastic "spork" from a desk drawer and went to work on it. Unfortunately, no water hose nearby.

Now, I could have been in a sour mood, silently chastising the person who didn't clean up after his pet. But, in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, I did a quick Facebook status update and took heart from the witty comments from friends far and near:


"It's local, and organic."
"Farm fresh, too."
"Crapola!"
And my favorite: "Shite happens."

The first of May

It's a new month and I'm filled with optimism about several things:

-- Spring's arrival. Slept in until 8:30 and woke up to glorious sunshine. Heading into this weekend, we'd had rain 67 of the last 77 days in Portland. No wonder people were gloomy. Today feels like we've finally turned the corner toward warmer, drier days.

-- Life, lived simply: Took Otto on a long walk and appreciated anew some of the simple sights in our neighborhood: Someone's beautifully maintained bed of tulips. A young couple out for a morning run. A couple of graying boomers playing tennis. A yard sale bringing together the young and old. Nice to see the neighborhood coming alive.

-- My health: Went to the store to stock up on the various items I need to prepare for tomorrow's routine procedure: a colonoscopy. Been through it once before, so I know what to expect. Keeping my fingers crossed that there are no problems. And feeling fortunate to have affordable health insurance in these times.

-- Tuesdays, reclaimed: With the end of our bowling league season last week, I can look forward to four months of Tuesdays with no obligations. An extra weeknight will be a luxury for Lori and me. Knowing it's there in the bank makes it easier for me to think about starting another activity -- possibly drop-in volleyball on Wednesday nights. We'll have to see how the knees respond.

-- Work: Just completed four months in my new job as a community news web editor. At times there's been a gulf between what I expected to do and what I've actually done these first few months, but I realize it goes with the territory. Main thing is I feel comfortable in the web-first news environment and hope to have something splashy and tangible to show for my efforts as I work with others on the development of a network of independent bloggers that wound be linked to from OregonLive.com. More details to come in future posts.

-- My blog: I'm adding a new feature, the A to Z Music Month. See the post below for more details.

Photo: www.freepixels.com