Birthday celebrations included a concert at another winery, dinner with friends, and yet another concert.
Rule Brittania is a newly formed band by my cousin’s friend, Ron. The one who went to the same junior high school as me. They played on a Sunday afternoon at Lavelle Vineyards Elvira, outside of Eugene. The setlist was all 1960’s British bands: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Animals, Zombies, etc. I discovered there were only four songs I had left off my playlist I created to get me in the mood for moving to England.
Yesterday I drove back to Portland area for a couple of errands and lunch with friends. Broder Soder was excellent. Some our friend group were unable to attend. Hopefully the next time I’m out here…..
Last night we saw Trombone Shorty at the Cuthbert amphitheater. After a beastly hot day it cooled off nicely. Until everybody was on their feet dancing. The opening act was Stpaul and the Broken Bones. Go take a look/listen to both bands. Great music!
Last night we went to the Eugene Emeralds vs. Hillsboro Hops game (high A league). It was Wicked night. The game itself was boring until the 7th inning. The Emeralds scored five runs, including two homers. The Emeralds won 6-5. As is typical, the entertainment was okay. The drone show was my first seeing in person. On the plus side, they wouldn’t frighten dogs or cause PTSD. Maybe it was the limited budget that A teams probably have; not spectacular. The weather was perfect, though.
The stadium itself is about the size of the old Bill Meyer stadium in Knoxville. I remember dollar nights on Wednesdays. I’d take Ben and he’d find the gang of kids running around to join. It was great for being able to keep eyes on the kids. Plus the regular attendees would help keep them in line. The kids would collect all those plastic baseball caps that held ice cream. I think I had a cabinet full by the time that phase of boyhood ended.
Interesting how the 3 baseball games I have attended this summer all have ties to Knoxville. Tony Vitello was the Vols head coach before he joined the San Francisco Giants as their head coach. The Vols won the 2024 championship under him. In Denver I was thinking of Todd Helton who played for the Rockies after his Vols career. And, the Eugene Emeralds are one of the farm teams for the SF Giants, so that’s only one degree of separation.
On Thursday, Randi and I went to the Scandia Fest in Junction City. Small, and full of food trucks. I really wanted to see crafts. Most of the vendors were those that make the festival rounds – soaps, flowers, jewelry, etc., without them being Scandinavian. We watched the kids dancing for a few minutes.
Yesterday the smoky haze from the wildfires lifted enough that we sat outside until it got hot in the afternoon. We went to Bennet Vineyards & Winery with some friends for a concert….and lots of wine. Daydream Derby was really nice, lots of variety in the song list. Little kids dancing along with people in their 70’s and 80’s.
Also, I was wearing a UT shirt – because it was Friday and we wear orange on Friday – and met a couple from Murfreesboro. They moved to Oregon 30 years ago and have been much happier out here. I can believe it.
My cousin’s friend, Ron who I mentioned in my last post, went to the same junior high school as I did. It is a small world.
Happy anniversary to my cousin and husband. Good eats and drinks at Nelson’s in the Whit, followed by my first ever Glam Rock/Metal “concert.” Concert in quotes because it was in someone’s front yard as part of the Eugene Porch Fest in the Whit (self-described as Eugene’s arts & counter culture neighborhood).
Text exchange with my son:
me – pic and “your mother just went to see a metal band.”
Band was GlitzKrieg. The guitarist in red, Ron, is a friend of my cousin and her husband. After their set, we walked back to the restaurant for dessert and to keep Ron’s wife (also a friend) company while she ate.
Also shoutout to Prince Puckler’s Homemade Ice Cream since 1975.
On the fifth day, the mountain was out. Finally. I’ve had a good time re-visiting some of my favorite places and seeing good friends. I drove to the coast to Seaside and then Astoria.
On the way back I stopped at a tiny eagle sanctuary. Very serene, scenic, and tiny.
Apparently this is the tree they like to nest in.
I drove to Vernonia to eat lunch at the Blue House Cafe, which happens to be owned by my good friend Michael’s late wife’s family. They were very sweet and the matriarch remembered her cousin, Angela, fondly. The food was incredible. I had tried to eat there in May. In fact, I made a special effort to go there that day. It turned out to be the day they are typically closed, so I didn’t bother going for the rest of the drive I had planned – to Longview. It turned out that was the day there was a large explosion and people died in Longview.
Another day to Corvallis to meet my friend, Karen for lunch. Another day to Milwaukie to meet another friend, Lori. Other days to meet Danni and Melody and Kathy and Patti and Ann and Sheila and Chameleon and Sherrie and Karen and Mandy. Lots of friends in these parts.
Headed back to Oregon today. I’m feeling like this is the very last time I’ll be in Knoxville after having lived here since the early 1990’s except for the past two years. It has been a surreal visit. I’ve had a great time visiting with friends and friends I consider family.
This visit ends with sadness. I recently described trying to engage someone I know with critical thinking (see Inch by Inch post). It has not worked. I’ve come to the conclusion that he’ll NEVER admit any errors in thinking, nor will he actually think. Every time we’ve had discussions about a number of topics, he’ll agree with me, or at least come close to agreement – especially when I show him data – but then, he’ll go back to parroting MAGA talking points.
Regarding voter ID (SAVE Act), he showed me something from the internet that said Iowans can attest to another person’s identity, thus letting the other person register to vote without ID. Not the entire truth. I showed him the Iowa Secretary of State website that clearly states a bunch of stipulations that makes it near impossible for an ineligible person to register. Plus there is a >$10,000 fine for attestor if they lie. And Iowa doesn’t count the vote until they verify the identity and residency. This all comes after we had discussed the vanishingly small number of voter fraud cases brought in this country since 1982. The Heritage Foundation’s data says it is less than 2,000 cases over 44 years over the entire country.
The saddest thing was when he said he voted for Trump in 2024 as the “lesser of two evils.” He didn’t like that Harris would continue Biden’s agenda and didn’t have her own ideas, not withstanding she had about five minutes to come up with new ideas??? That’s what was more “evil” than Trump’s 34 felony counts of felony convictions??? We got in a huge argument about whether the timing of the rape allegations against Trump and Epstein. He couldn’t imagine a single case with millions of pages of evidence; must have been made up. To which I explained it was millions of pages of evidence gathered over multiple decades from multiple victims to multiple jurisdictions. Not just one case. He had no answer to my question of how a teenage victim reporting to the police in the 1970’s could be so forward thinking to now.
The final breaking point was when he said Trump’s social media must have been hacked because he wouldn’t/couldn’t have posted the screenshot below. Sit with that for a second. Trump’s social media being hackable isn’t a frightening thought? What kind of non-security does the President have? I guess he’s not seen the 100’s of examples of lies/weird shit Trump posts each and every day. That’s when I left the room. And made arrangements to spend my last night here in a motel rather than spend more time with him. I’m done.
It has been like old home week here. I’m not a tourist, do not have any pics of scenery to share. I’ve been staying with my best friend who has graciously shared her home with me for two weeks now. She recently had shoulder surgery, so it has been good to be a help to her with cooking, chores, chauffering, etc.
I’ve had lunches and dinners at my favorite local restaurants with some of my favorite people. Shoutout to Buddy’s, Holy Land, Sunspot, Asia Cafe, Petro’s, Yassin’s, and Altruda’s.
University of Tennessee campus and surrounding area has changed considerably since I was last in the area approximately five years ago. The main road leading to campus, colloquially known as “the strip”, is no longer lined with local shops and restaurants. It looks like a big city canyon of mid-rise apartment buildings with stores on ground level. No charm. Campus itself is in a building frenzy. Many dorms built in the 80’s are being replaced. Admittedly, this has been going on for several years already. There are also classroom buildings going up.
I remember when the Student Success Center was first created in 2004 (I was the first staff member hired), we were housed temporarily in a former private home that was absorbed by the university along with others on that street. We were on the ten-year building plan to have space in another building that was to be renovated. For the next 17 years I was never in anything other than temporary space. They are just now building a new Student Success building in the space where they razed the old building. So, more like the 20 year plan! It is in a great location, though, right next to the main library.
I am still annoyed that they tore down the Hillel house (Jewish Student Center) at least 15 years ago and it is STILL an empty spot. They SAID it was to make room for a new building…… They also tore down the only Jewish fraternity house to accomodate the footprint of one of the newer dorms about ten years ago.
Next stop back in Oregon to pick up my UK passport!
Wow! Yesterday morning I received notification that my passport application was approved. Yesterday afternoon I received notification that my passport was printed and would be shipped shortly. Way faster than I had anticipated. This has been a process of hurry up and wait.
I woke up on the second Wednesday of November 2024 and decided I needed to have a plan in case our country went wonky. I intended it as a backup plan to help alleviate my anxiety. So I began researching where I could go in the world. I created a spreadsheet and listed my personal criteria: languages, population density, climate (weather and political), religious diversity, LGBTQ friendliness, human rights, etc. I then researched various countries. I included the UK because my grandmother was born in London (more on that later). If you would like to see the spreadsheet, hit me up and I’ll share with you.
By the end of January 2025 I knew I needed to get serious. My maternal great-grandparents emigrated from Poland. On their way to the United States, they had about an 8 year sojourn in London, where my grandmother was born. Luckily for me, my mother kept my grandmother’s parish registry certificate from her birth, that she inherited along with other interesting family papers when my grandmother died. When I packed up my mother’s apartment, I dumped all of these papers into a large suitcase and brought it home with me. I parked the suitcase in my spare room and never once looked in it. Fortunately, I took the suitcase with me when I moved in 2024. My new place was not very large, so I went through the suitcase and discovered this treasure trove. Remembering that I had this parish registry certificate launched my exploration of gaining UK citizenship.
The parish is no longer in existence. How on earth would I be able to verify my grandmother’s birth in London in 1890 without having this certificate!!!???
My sojourn in Knoxville has been interesting. I am staying with my best friend. Her partner has voted for Trump three times. 3 times!!! We’re also in primary season in Tennessee, so the attack ads are relentless. I have been trying to maintain my composure; though not altogether successfully. I called out a lie in a restaurant the other day – to a woman, stranger to me, at another table. The lie: “no other country has birthright citizenship” which a quick search will tell you there about 35 countries who offer it – about 18%. Not a huge number, but not zero.
The friend group has stopped talking politics with the partner. My friend prefers a peaceful home, so she doesn’t either. I’m more vocal. Two years ago in the spring of 2024, partner and I had multiple discussions and disagreements, but we were able to discuss without name calling. So far, we’ve only had one instance when I had to leave the room in order to maintain my cool. I’ve also had to rein in my sarcastic remarks. That has been difficult, but surprisingly effective. I can’t remain silent – if I do, I’m complicit when he espouses an opinion.
So, my method has been to wait for him to spout something he’s read/seen and then to gently correct him with facts. I try to use more conservative sources for the rebuttals since he is more likely to believe the rebuttal that way. An example – SAVE Act/voter fraud. I searched and selected the Heritage Foundation as the source of my facts. They’ve got a database of voter fraud cases back to 1982. Guess the total number of cases nationwide in the past 44 years. Go ahead, I’ll wait……slightly more than 1,600. To be sure, that is the number of cases, not the number of fraudulent votes. But still, over 44 years, it is highly unlikely that a great number of elections have been thrown due to voter fraud. Election fraud is a different case – supression efforts are definitely ramping up. On the local/state front, just talking about the voting records of the candidates in their current offices has been enough to turn him off the more extreme candidates. Marsha Blackburn has done a great job of killing her chances with him by her recent advertisement. Oh, I also looked up the stats on how many acres are owned by Chinese interests in Tennessee….a vanishingly small number of acres. Not an issue. He is now agreeing with me at least 40% of the time. Hopefully that will stick in his mind when he votes in a couple of weeks in the primary, and then again in November.
Re-post from a Facebook post I made in September 2025:
Fear and courage concurrently:
I’m writing this on the morning of September 13, 2025. Like many Americans, I’ve spent the past week remembering 9/11 and how I felt then and in the days/weeks/months following.
I had a new job on a college campus, a husband who was traveling for work, one kid in college and another in high school. My then-husband was in Seattle on 9/11. It took him 3-4 days to get home.
That morning I went to the bank to deposit my paycheck (no direct deposit or mobile deposits back then). While in line at the drive through the first plane hit. By the time I got back to the office the second plane had hit as well as the one into the Pentagon. Everyone in the office gathered around and we watched events unfold. Campus was weird. As classes let out, it got quieter and quieter as more people left. Eventually afternoon classes and all evening events were canceled. My college student child came to me when she heard and we left to pick up the other one from his school. Then we went home to be numb.
In the days following, we heard President Bush urging us to unite as Americans. I think I absorbed that message and the other message to be brave and not allow the terrorists win. Side note – not a fan of GW Bush, but he wasn’t completely horrible. At least not until WMD mania.
My niece had recently become engaged and her engagement party was scheduled for late September. In NJ. One of my sister-in-law’s best friends was killed in the tower attacks. They decided to hold the party anyway. I was the only out of town family member to attend from our side of the family.
I absorbed the bravery message so well that I kicked out the cheating husband, bought a house during the recession, and spoke truth to power at the university and was fired for it. 4 months prior to full retirement. There’s a heavy cost in health insurance premiums and lower pension benefits when you retire before 20 years. I moved across the country, and am now planning another move to a different country.
At each step of the way I’ve been afraid. Currently my new hobby seems to be attending protests. When I flew to D.C. in June and it happened to coincide with the No Kings protests, I folded my banner inside out and buried it between clothes in my suitcase so TSA wouldn’t notice. Also washed out the hair color and didn’t wear my Pride watch band for the flight. But then, I brought a D.C. friend to a protest while there and found my courage again. Here, at home, I attend suburban protests. I’m old and can’t run fast and want more than a porta-potty. Why travel into the big city when I can go to the local protest?
There’s one being held today on a highway overpass. I’ve done these before. This morning, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing and subsequent craziness, I had a moment (10 minutes) when I thought I’d skip today. Nope. I’m going.
Adventure Activist 