So far in 2026

No big travels, adventures, or news, but there are several fun little things to update you about. In case you’re interested, here are some of them:

I’m studying Spanish language again. This time it is not during the pandemic, so I can go into a classroom and have conversations with actual people. It has made a huge difference. I began the winter term in January, and this one goes through March. I plan to take another class after this one, and maybe even a third, if I still feel like I’m getting a lot out of it. I love this professor and my classmates are so awesome because every single one of them is invested, and actively engages in everything. It is so much fun.

The Sylvania campus is only a 10 minute drive from the house, and it’s so pretty there. I think college campuses are so often pretty. I’m super glad that one benefit of living in a city is lots of opportunities to choose classes from multiple colleges and universities.

The holidays are past and our charming gingerbread houses are no longer charming. I took them out, one every few days, to feed to the chickens. The chickens were terrified of the broken gingerbread because it was something new, until a crow began grabbing pieces and eating it. After that, the chickens pounced and devoured the cookies. Silly girls.

Winter is a good time for trails around here because they are often designed to accommodate the rain. So during the cold, grey, wet days, trails walks are the main activity Pedro and I share. Also, there is not much else to do, so heck, might as well hit the trails! I seem to always find something to capture my interest while I’m on a trail, as the photos above and below illustrate.

The scene above caught my eye immediately because this is close to the house and we walk this section of trail several times a month. This gigantic oak has been leaning drastically since we moved here, and that has concerned me. We had tons and tons of rain, then a windstorm, and the tree couldn’t hold itself up anymore, with roots clinging to soft mud. I dug through old photos and found some to show you how it has changed since we moved here.

In the photo above, you can see where the trail crosses the road. Then the trail continues around this corner for one block along this street, around what used to be three big trees. During the aforementioned rainy and windy weather, this group of trees came down onto the power lines. We lost power, and we also lost this route to Pacific Highway from the house, as it was closed for two days while it was cleared and repaired.

A couple days after I took the photo above, I drove past and saw a sign that said, “Free wood, please take.” I got my man and we drove over there. Pedro and I have been wanting slices of logs so we could practice axe throwing. Yes! It’s a fad that has become popular around here, and they charge you $20 for three tries and we are terrible at it, so it’s completely unsatisfying to spend that $20. A brand new hatchet is probably $20, so we thought “If only we could find a chunk of wood to throw it into!”

One of my friends spent an unexpected six days in the hospital. So awful. She was having trouble breathing. Doctors still don’t know what’s causing the problem, but they have figured out a strategy to keep her breathing, so she could go home. I stopped in to see her because hospitals can be the most boring place to spend time, especially when you can’t breathe and have to stay in bed most of the time. I included the photo because it’s one of the few I have of myself lately.

On dry days, I put Jupyter on a leash and take her outside with me. She likes to run around all over the place, so I don’t usually stake her down, just let her drag the leash around. I keep an eye on her, but every now and then she will dash off to chase a squirrel. I caught the following scene:

Why didn’t Boh run away? Well, she has not learned that Jupyter is bad. They come within two inches of each other, on either side of the glass sliding door, nearly every single day. When Pedro and I hand feed peanuts to her, we put one hand on the cat to keep her from pouncing, and feed the squirrel with the other hand. So Boh is cautious, but not properly afraid. I think she will stay safe. Jupyter has no hunting skills, only chasing skills. This was her first time climbing, and she was stuck right there where you see her. I had to walk over and pick her off the tree and put her down.

For my birthday in January, one of my friends commissioned a painting for me from a 13-year-old in her life. What an absolutely great gift it was! An acrylic painting titled “Jupyter being waited on by Maya and Cyndi.”

As unhelpful as it is, cats frequently spend time on desktops, annoying their owners. Pedro is a big softie about it. I used to be that same way with Racecar, too. Hey! Speaking of our cat, her one year birthday is tomorrow. We are going to an early Tet party hosted by a friend tomorrow, and I am bringing cat-themed snacks so that the guests can celebrate the kitty with us.

One of the MOST FUN things was and still is, to be honest, that one of my most favourite musical artists is Bad Bunny, and he has been in the news every single damned day for a month. I have four of his albums and I’ve been listening to his music for years, so proud of how he champions women and the LGBTQ community from a position of power: being male in a male-centric culture. I was tickled that he was selected to perform at Super Bowl halftime. But then when I saw the show, I was nearly in tears. That was the most beautiful celebration of community and the people that make up communities I could ever have expected to see. We spent our next Spanish class analyzing the importance of so many elements of that performance, to actually SEE some of the cultural things our teacher has been trying to teach us. Every single day I learn one more new piece of amazingly cool information about what Bad Bunny put into his performance. This was the purest celebration of the core of what has made America great. (Also some direct, biting criticisms of how the US government neglects its Puerto Rican territory.) I am still glowing from it. Glowing.

OK, that’s a pretty good catch up!!

Soon we will be joining ALL the kids (Pedro’s twins and my kid and their fiance) at a Studio Ghibli film festival at the science museum here in Portland, called OMSI. Then it’s Pedro’s birthday and I have a fun night of steak, flaming dessert, and comedy planned for him in downtown Portland. On the 27th, I’m meeting a Cherokee sister to attend the McMinnville Short Film Festival where another Cherokee sister, Emma Barrow, is presenting her film called Redbird.

The 28th, Kellen, Cameron, and their roommate Dane are arriving to see another Ghibli film at OMSI, then they will all stay the night with us, because March 1st all FIVE of us are flying down to Los Angeles to spend a week at Disneyland. Naturally, I am super, super, super, super excited!!! (with extra exclamation marks) This is going to be especially fun because Pedro has only been one time, and it was back in the 1990s or something, and he had a bad time because the couple he went with was fighting, so he has never wanted to go back until now. And Dane has never been! So Cam, Kellen, and I are eager to see how this amazing park strikes them. Pedro is a really big Mickey Mouse fan, and I think he is going to find it more enjoyable than he expects it will.

I have burdened you all with ten bazillion Disneyland photos in the past. Because of that, I plan NOT to take my camera this time. I am sure I will take a few photos with my phone, but I think not very many will be necessary, and I want to simply try to have a blast and document it with my heart instead.