Homeless Man Found Covered in Cement in Lake Oswego

OK people. This is not funny.

Cement encrusted Hobo in LO

On our way to breakfast at a lovely local bistro, La Provence, imagine our horror just one block from home when we saw this....

Clearly a homeless man has been encased in cement and placed right on the main drag of A Avenue smack in the center of our quaint little village! And it seems...this horrible act was done WHILE HE WAS EATING!!

My daughter tried to tell me it was part of the local art that peppers the downtown area. Or, she mused...perhaps it's a reflection of our town's history??

A man eating out of a tin can? I'm not sure that's the history we're trying to preserve.

I would like to know the real meaning behind this Main Street Statement.

The man's final expression captured

Here are some thoughts:

1. Come to Lake Oswego. See? We like poor people, too.

2. Our past...we used to be poor like this man, but now we live in Lake Oswego, we're all rich now.

3. See? We DO have homeless people in Lake Oswego.

4. Caution: Homeless people NOT tolerated. (Just look what happened to this guy)

5. City Council gets revenge on previous Mayor.

There's one final possibility, however. Although I'm not sure about the message being conveyed; there's some crazy irony here. I'll leave you with your own thoughts with one final picture.

Marketing or Mistake? You Decide.

Thirst Quencher Thursday? Actually still a little parched.

One of the things that makes Lake Oswego special in the summer, aside from the market, is the variety of evening concerts and picnics in the parks. Foothills, West Lake, Millenium all have something going on although I have to say that you may need a spreadsheet to keep the schedules straight.

Wait..it's July and it's Wednesday so that's West Lake, right? No Foothills in July, Westlake in August...or was it June? And it's Friday night at Millenium. Right? No. Noon on Fridays at Millenium. But there's SOMEthing there on Sunday night I think.

Oh, nevermind.

As much as I really love the idea of a picnic dinner with some wine and music...keeping the schedule straight along with pre-packing the food so we can dash-grab the cooler and the soccer chairs and race to get a spot out of the blistering sun has just made it too much work.

Last time I went I was in my work clothes, still wearing my badge, dragging a wheelie cooler in circles as my heels sank into the soft well sprinklered lawn. I'm still trying to figure out if I looked pathetic or like a mom making a noble effort. (I prefer option B)

So you can imagine my delight when Lake Oswego announced a new event for the month of July. It's happy hour in the park with art and music and food. They have tables there. No cooler to pack...no chairs to schlep...no heels to sink...just stroll and enjoy. Right?

Well, almost.

Thirst Quencher Thursday turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. They have the right elements, but the execution is off.

The music was good. Check.

The art vendors were few, but it's new so we have to give it a chance. Check.

Mistake #1?

Placing the festivities at the wrong end of the park. I know why they put it down by St. Honore...people will see it more easily. But given the wonderful covered space at the OTHER end to let people get out of the hottest part of the day would have made more sense. Put giant HEY....HAPPY HOUR THIS WAY!!!! Signs up.

Mistake #2?

The food and wine selection...there wasn't one. Oswego Lake House was the only vendor with one or two food options....one or two beer options...and an "are you kidding" wine selection. Would like the crappy-way-too-cold white or the jam-on-your-toast sweet red?

What were the beer choices again?

Come on LO...I know this is the first year, but you can do better than this. Get some of your Saturday market food vendors in on a thursday...you'd knock that place flat...and getting a beer and wine vendor that sells a real selection of beer and wine should not be problem in this town.

I'm going again this Thursday...the last for this season. I'll be the one up on the lawn sunk up to my heels.

Location:2nd St,Lake Oswego,United States

Pass the Kleenex...it's time for the LOJ Musical

I should know better. 

I have a 19 year old son and 14 year old daughter...I know better. 

Why I thought I could watch my daughter make her musical theater debut without taking Kimberly Clark WITH me was a bad decision. Turning on the saltwater faucet before she even stepped on stage was the unexpected part.

Every year, Lake Oswego Junior HS performs a musical production under the steadfast direction of the drama teacher Joe Theissen. And every year, I am STUNNED at the quality of production this one man is able to pull out of 100+ 13- and 14- year old adolescents. I can't even get a carload of girls dropped off at the mall without drama, he has them dancing and singing...in TUNE!  

This year's production is Beauty and the Beast. If you're a parent with a child under the age of 20, you surely have the DVD memorized, even if you haven't had to watch it for several years now. You may even have remnants of Halloween Belle's and Beasts in the rafters of your garage.  As one of those parents, I will tell you that this production is not to be missed, even as I warn you that you might be singing Tale as Old as Time for the next week. My daughter, Maggie, is Mrs. Potts. Yes...I raised a teapot with a slight British accent and I'm darn proud of it. 

With hardly a dry eye in the house and some friendly teasing between parents over our emotional breakdowns for our very own candlesticks, forks, spoons and villagers...the reason behind all this has become clear to me. It's less about the "pride" we feel. I mean, of course, we're proud. "Oh, honey, I'm so PROUD of you. You did SO well."

But really...deep down...we know that this is a first definitive step to the edge of the nest. These productions show us that our little ones really are growing up...who knew that this kid who can't pick up a towel and who appears to have lost most of his or her sense of hearing, especially when you're talking, is standing on a stage on their own...speaking carefully memorized lines...singing their hearts out in public (sometimes sounding astonishingly good) and showing us a glimpse of the adult they are becoming all too quickly. 

Great. Now I need a kleenex again.

Performances are running next week, Thursday 2/25 and Friday 2/26 at 7pm and two performances on Saturday, 2/27 at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets are available. And bring your own tissues.

Off to the Pub

After my annual pre-birthday trek to Jake's in downtown Portland for raw oysters and an icy cold vodka martini...I decided to trek some more over to the pub just down the street from home for a bit of music and cheer. I have come to the decision that a real neighborhood pub just two blocks from my door is officially going on my "must-have's in life" list. (right behind espresso, bordeaux and chevre)

From my vantage point in lovely LO I have several bars within easy walking distance, however, there's something about Maher's that always makes it my first choice. My pub is owned by real Irish people...you know, like, from Ireland. Can you imagine? In an age where most restaurants and "pubs" manufacture their atmosphere (think Applebee's or Olive Garden...wait, on second thought...DON'T) it's wholeheartedly refreshing to know people who bring to life simply what they do best. Which in this case is great food, a genuinely warm welcome and, of course, a perfectly pulled pint of Guiness...every time.

Maybe it's the lure of perfectly prepared Steak and Guiness Pie or colcannon that calls me. More likely, it's the family friendly atmosphere where you can catch up on the local gossip with your neighbors, and wind down after work without breaking the budget. Now, lest you think me the gullible type...well, I am, but that's another story...I dragged my "real" irish friend currently living in the horrifying suburbs of Beaver-killmenow-ton to join me and evaluate the authenticity of the experience. In no time at all, Carl and the Maher's were swapping stories of home and the next thing I knew I was joining in with the musicians singing Dirty Old Town, and all before the first pint was done.


I began to wonder why there are so few "Maher's" in the US, thought better of it, and ordered another beer.  Cead Mile Failte!




 

Backhoes at Midnight and other Small Gratitudes.

For the last week or so, Old Man Winter has had a firm grip on the throat of greater Portland. That's not what I'm writing about, but it's an important detail you need to know.


In the wee hours of December 7th, 1:30 a.m. to be exact...I was awakened by a sound that I can't actually describe, other than I was pretty sure something was physically coming apart in my building. My brain had given up trying to incorporate the noise into my dreams and finally forced me awake to deal with it. The source appeared to be the bathroom which was not comforting and the fact that the cat was sitting outside the door with that "It's in there and I'M not going in" look on his face wasn't helping either.

Now remember, this cacophony dragged me straight out of REM so I was not processing things too clearly. At first it looked like the sound was coming from the toilet...and then to my horror, I realized that the sound was in the WALLS. From floor to ceiling my apartment was belching and heaving and leaving me to wonder when whatever was IN the wall was coming OUT.

I realized that the sound must be the pipes either trying to freeze or trying to thaw although I couldn't remember the last time I heard water create a ruckus on its way to a solid state. I turned the tap...trickle. I turned the shower...nothing.

OMG. Frozen pipes...frozen pipes mean cracked pipes which means thawed pipes mean ceiling flooding.

All right....don't panic...DON'T PANIC!!

Quick Lisa, plug in your brain. What to do? Right. Open the taps.

Done.

Now what? Call anyone who might care and leave a voice mail. Good...let's do that. Don't sound panicked. Don't sound crazy. Right. Let's make sure we leave a calm thoughtful voice mail about FROZEN PIPES!!!!

On the way to find phone numbers for those about to be unfortunate enough to get my call, I heard another noise coming from outside and to my amazement...There was a backhoe in the middle of the street with a brand new 15 foot wide trench wide open along with some utility trucks and a small collection of city workers peering in to the hole under bright lights. Now...that equipment and that hole were NOT there when I went to bed at 11:30...I didn't know that kind of utility mobilization was even possible.

And all at 15 degrees.

I was immediately relieved to know I didn't have frozen pipes, I didn't have to leave crazy-lady voice mails in the middle of the night, and I could just go back to bed.

Then true to form...just as you really need to microwave something as soon as the power goes out...guess what happens when you realize your water's been shut off? Yep...you have to pee...bad.

I resisted the urge and in just 15 minutes or so...my access to the elixir of life was restored. The "filling" of the building made a sound twice as terrifying as the "void," but I just held my breath, closed the taps that had burst back on, quelled the fears of my daughter who awoke during the melee, and pee'd.

*sigh*

And as I drifted back to sleep to the soft "beep-beep-beep" of heavy equipment in reverse, I said a little prayer of thanks for some tireless Lake Oswego city water workers who dug out my street in the middle of one frozen night.