Some Snippets

Today I had a super busy day but also a good productive day, one of those days when you feel like there are not enough hours in it. I am finally in bed and can do some reading and writing. I should make a living reading and writing already! Yesterday I had a calmer day and here are some snippets from it....First of all the weather has been so nice and I have been enjoying that. Felt an undeniable craving for a waffle at a place called Smaakens where I have been before, it's a food cart inside a food cart area located on the South East side of town. So I drove there from my part of town, the South West and had a delicious waffle with whipped cream and drank a hibiscus iced tea. So yummy! I like the recycling station at this food cart place. I am a fairly diligent recycler. Absolutely no littering. After my waffle I went on a looooong walk through the city, across two bridges. I love walking, exploring and seeing new things. Like this, I had never noticed this until yesterday, the Bill Naito Legacy Fountain. A beautiful poem is inscripted into the steps. FOR THE PEOPLES OF THE FIRST NATIONS WHO CAME TO FISH THE RIVERS AND INHABIT THE LAND – FOR LATE ARRIVING PACIFIC EXPLORERS AND TRAPPERS – HAILING PROUD FLAGS OF RUSSIA – BRITAIN – FRANCE – SPAIN FOR THOSE WHO BLAZED TRAILS OVER THE WIDE INTERIOR – AND FOR THE MULTITUDES WHO DROVE THOSE TRAILS IN A GREAT WESTERN MIGRATION – AMERICAN PIONEER ADVENTURERS – THE HEADSTRONG – THE HARD PRESSED – THE RESOURCEFUL – STAKING CLAIMS – FELLING TIMBER – TILLING SOIL – NAMING VILLAGES FOR THE IRISH – GERMAN – CHINESE – JAPANESE – JEWS FROM THE EASTERN PALE – SWEDES – FINNS – DANES – NORWEGIANS – ITALIANS – ROMA IN CARAVANS – GREEKS – MEXICANS – CHILDREN OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA – REFUGEES FROM WARS AND TYRANTS – BUILDERS OF BETTER FORTUNES – FOR THE HISTORIC WAVES OF MOVING PEOPLES WHO BECAME NEW NEIGHBORS NEAR THESE WILLAMETTE BANKS FOR MERCHANTS AND LABORERS – AND FOR THEIR FAMILIES – WORKING THE ROADS AND RAIL LINES – THE DOCKS AND SHIP YARDS – THE FACTORIES AND MILLS – PLANTING FARMS AND ORCHARDS – TENDING STORE COUNTERS – FILLING SCHOOL HOUSES AND LIBRARIES – GATHERING IN CIVIC CLUBS AND SOCIETIES – HOUSES OF WORSHIP – SALOONS – PARKS – MUSIC HALLS – RIVER LANDINGS – TRAIN STATIONS – STREET CORNERS – FLOWER GARDENS FOR ANCESTORS WHO TRAVELED COUNTLESS PATHS FROM OTHER LANDS TO THIS PLACE – WHO CAME BY TRAIL AND BY OCEAN – BY RIVER AND BY RAILROAD – BY HIGHWAY AND BY AIRWAY – IN COURSING HUMAN STREAMS – DREAMING IN MANY LANGUAGES – FOR THOSE WHOSE VOICES STILL ECHO TODAY AND FOR THOSE WHOSE LEGACIES ARE QUIET – A PORT CITY HARBORS THEIR HOPES – AND A FOUNTAIN FLOWS HERE IN THEIR MEMORY.