Portland Y

Yerba's Night Out
Saturday, January 28
I experienced my first earthquake today. It was about six in the evening and I was at the movies, when the theater shook for a few seconds. No one seemed to get too excited except the person next to me asked, "Was that an earthquake?" I said I thought so, but wasn't sure. Later I found out it was a 2.8*, which is not uncommon in these parts. Still, it was a reminder that life is uncertain and I decided to was time to let Yerba out of the trunk.

Let me back up. On my very first day in Portland, October 1, I was visiting Food Front Co-op where there was a raffle fundraiser for charity. The potential prizes were a bike, a Weber grill, a gift basket, and a large teddy bear. I bought ten tickets and stuffed nine in the box for the bike and one in the teddy bear box. I won the bear. Since then, Yerba (I named him after a new drink I got turned onto here: Yerba Mate) has been sitting in my trunk. This has made for some interesting stares whenever I opened it in the presence of others.

So tonight, my friends Krishnee and Sebastian were kind enough to go out with Yerba and me. Sebastian said he had the perfect spot and drove. We ended up at the Kenndy School, which you may remember I had already visited on K-day and came to the conclusion that I had been there at the wrong time (the afternoon). Tonight the place was really hopping. It was interesting how little attention Yerba got--as if people were intentionally looking away. The bartender noticed though and threatened to card him, but we told him that he wasn't drinking and was the designated driver. This didn't go over very well, but what could he do?

We made our way into the library, but staff told us it was only for private functions. I asked permission to take Yerba in for some pictures and she said OK. I guess we overstayed our welcome, because 20 minutes later she came back and kicked us out. But the whole outing was worth it, when we passed 2-year-old Allison and her mom. Allison gave Yerba a big long hug and I was seriuosly tempted to let her have him.

Yerba ended up having a little too much. So we left him in the car when we moved onto Le Happy--a wonderful little bar and creperie right in our neighborhood at 16th and Lovejoy. We played a spirited game of Sorry, which got vindictive at times. But we left friends just after the smoking began (which inexplicable happens at ten). I'm letting Yerba sleep it off in my apartment. If he's good, I may let him stay.

*A few days later it was upgrade to a 3.1