City Living

After spending a relaxing day around the city, Joshua and I met up with Alex, one of the groomsmen in our wedding, to get thai food for dinner; it was delicious. 

Then he took us to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden where we enjoyed walking around and taking pictures of the beautiful flowers.

Joshua and Alex

Next, we walked to a nearby bar and met up with a couple more friends.

We finished the evening off with a jam session in the van.

The Grotto

This morning we visited what is popularly known as "The Grotto": the National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, which occupies 62 acres in the middle of Portland. After driving through the bustle of downtown, stepping into the Grotto was like shifting into another dimension of being.

The shrine consists of a beautiful botanical garden in two levels separated by a hundred and ten foot cliff. On the lower level was a visitor's center, a chapel, a path punctuated by the Station of the Cross, and the grotto proper: a cave carved into the face of the cliff featuring a full scale marble replica of Michelangelo's Pieta.

http://www.bieneks.net/pictures/oregon/grotto/index.html

The upper level had two prayer chapels and a long, winding path that took us through a number of meditations: the sorrows and joys of St. Joseph; the joyful, sorrowful, glorious, and luminous mysteries of the life of Christ, and the sorrows of Mary.

http://www.bieneks.net/pictures/oregon/grotto/index.html

http://www.bieneks.net/pictures/oregon/grotto/index.html

The gardens were beautiful. The Grotto is operated by a group of monks who live in the monastery next to the rose garden.

http://www.lisasphotoscapes.com/hdr-photography/flora-and-fauna/the-grotto-portland-oregon/

My favorite part of the visit was a labyrinth that is a replica of the one at the Cathedral of Chartres in France. (Now to go to the real one!)

Walking the labyrinth 

It was a remarkable place. It possessed a palpable sense of holiness and worship. Walking the labyrinth, I reflected upon my gratitude for the Christian faith. How wise of God to give us, such physical creatures, a faith that is also so physical! I am thankful that Christianity involves not only belief, prayer, and the like, but also pilgrimages like this one. How good of God to give us holy water, statues, the living examples of the Saints, kneeling, candles, incense, and the like. As I walked the twisting paths toward the metaphorical Jerusalem -- heaven, the goal of this great pilgrimage -- I was brought to reflection upon the highest aspect of our corporeal faith: Jesus Christ, God made flesh to dwell among us.

I also had occasion to think about the role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. There were many depictions of Christ in the gardens, and most of them depicted him in the two central events of his life: the incarnation and the passion, the nativity and the Pieta. It struck me that from time immemorial, God saw fit that His Son should pass both his first and last moments of life and death in the arms of His mother. In the lower chapel, there was a depiction of Mary as she is pictured in St. John's Revelation: clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars, with her children -- "those who keep the commandments of the Lord and bear testimony to Jesus" -- gathered around her. Above the painting were the words of Christ, given to St. John and to all those who are disciples of Jesus: "Behold thy mother."

What riches of grace God has seen fit to give us in our faith!

Up the Oregon Coast

Our last morning at Grandad's was as foggy and beautiful as the rest. We went out to eat at a place with a view of the harbor. 

Here's the group after we finished eating: Dave, Gayle, Joshua, Judy, and Grandad. 

 Joshua and I finished loading the van and got back on the road. We drove up the coast on 101 for awhile and...

...I finally made it to Florence!! Now to make it to Florence, Italy.

The Dunes

After waiting for the long weekend to pass, and all the crowds associated with it to leave, we headed to the dunes this morning to drive the sand car. 

Joshua and I walked over to the beach while we waited for the fog to lift. We touched the water of the Pacific Ocean and are heading for the Atlantic; Ocean to Ocean!

Back at the parking lot, the fog had lifted so we got all strapped in and ready to go.

We enjoyed some great views of the lake and sand. The dunes are quite pretty. We also had some exciting moments going straight up and down the sides of the dunes and racing along a flat stretch of sand. It was a fun trip, but we all got a bit sandy and it felt good to take showers when we returned.

Lake Marie

Gayle and I took a walk around Lake Marie yesterday morning. It's a fresh water lake that's close to the ocean. It was a pretty morning and we had a nice walk and found lots of interesting plants.

This tree is a western red cedar.

On the way back, we stopped for a view of the ocean.

Game Time

Most evenings in Oregon, with the exception of watching "Blazing Saddles" on Saturday night, we have spent playing games. Often we play cribbage, but last night we decided to play hearts so that all five of us could play at once. We had an abundance of avocados, so Dave made a bowl of guacamole and we enjoyed a snack and game of cards. I ended up with probably the best game of hearts I've ever played and I even shot the moon! I'd never done that before, so I was pretty excited. 

The Great Cioppino Feed

The long awaited moment finally arrived. Joshua has been talking about cioppino for months and when we decided to come visit Grandad in Oregon, he immediately asked if we could have a cioppino feed. Grandad was happy to oblige. There followed a long wait during which Joshua told me about how good cioppino is quite frequently. Grandad and Dave started buying and prepping ingredients Friday and it all smelled delicious. Then yesterday at 2:00pm was the big party. We had a total of 16 people in the yard to enjoy oysters, margaritas, and cioppino.

Things started off with barbecued oysters. I tried a bite of one and it wasn't bad. 

 

For those of you, like me until recently, who don't know what cioppino is, let me explain. Cioppino is a fish stew that is full of all kinds of seafood in a tomato broth with wine and lots of seasonings. Our cioppino yesterday had shrimp, scallops, halibut, salmon, clams, and imitation crab. 

After a relaxed time of appetizers and mingling, Grandad announced the cioppino was ready and started serving up bowls.

Joshua was, of course, quite happy. It was my first time trying cioppino, and I thought it was good too. Between second (or third) helpings of soup, the bread and salad on the side, and blueberry cobbler for dessert, everyone was pretty full and quite satisfied by the end.