Grout At The Devil

Today was a perfect day.

Wait, I take that back - I was up too damn early. 6:20, obscene for a Saturday. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. Finally gave up a little after 7:00. But overlooking that, it was a pretty good day.

I'm unexpectedly kid-free this weekend. MA took the kids early, something to do with a movie they want to film. I've learned never to look a gift horse in the mouth (although, when I came home to an empty house yesterday after work, I actually missed them). So I had to scramble and come up with something to do on my own. A hike would have been the obvious choice, but I felt like doing something different, and so after the usual yard sales (I bought one little thing - pickings have been slim lately), I headed to downtown Portland to check out the farmer's market. I'd only been there once before, last year with Crystal, and I didn't even know where it was, but the internet came to my rescue. I found it easily enough, but ended up circling the streets of Portland several times in search of parking. Finally found a spot on the street by PSU, and took off on foot for the market at noon.

It was pretty crowded, but a good time of year to go - there was a great selection of fruits and vegetables. I loaded up: bought corn on the cob, peaches, cherries, carrots, fresh basil, and fingerling potatoes. Wandered around and people watched. I love the weirdness that is Portland; it seemed as though every girl at the market was attractive, and tattooed, and pierced. I wanted to take them all home with me, but unfortunately stuck with the produce. I stood and watched a trio of old-time musicians playing on a street corner. They were great; had a Soggy Bottom Boys vibe to them. Finally, my arms were growing sore from hauling around bags of fresh produce, and my meter was set to expire anyway, so I headed back to the car. Drove next to Powell's Books, my favorite place in all of Portland. I was looking specifically for a book on the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest, to help me out with identifying nature on my hikes, and I had no problem finding one. I also wandered around the store, browsing, visiting the Blue Room and Gold Room, and getting a laugh out of the literary-minded men's room graffiti (people had taken to writing one-liners in the tile grout overlooking the urinal; their musings included "Oscar The Grout" and "Grout At The Devil" which I suppose are actually pretty inane, but for some reason I got a big kick out of those). When I got to the New Arrivals wall, I found a section for Debut Fiction and found the exact spot where my book would go. Ahh, dare to dream. Eventually I paid for my book and stopped by Whole Foods next, before making my way home.

Once there, I put on a couple of records and listened to music on the patio while reading a magazine. Added a couple of rum and Cokes to the mix. And then, for dinner, I grilled a New York strip steak I'd purchased at Whole Foods, with sauteed mushrooms; corn on the cob; and roasted fingerling potatoes with olive oil, garlic, and sea salt. Talk about a meal fit for a king! Best of all, everything I made came either from the farmer's market or Whole Foods. My dinner was sort of a tribute to Portland, I suppose. I put a Netflix movie on after - Monster, with Charlize Theron. Started to nod off toward the end (hmm...could it be because I was awake so freakin' early??).

That was my day, in a nutshell. Lots of fun, and now I'm just about ready for bed.