The Year of the Pig

February 9, 2019

A short post for a short ride, but it doesn’t seem like we should let Chinese New Year go by unnoticed. It actually passed a few days ago, but today was the main observation at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in what little remains of Portland’s Chinatown.

We had a dusting of snow last night, much less than we’d been warned to expect. It ceased by dawn but it was crisp, cold and icy when I walked uptown for coffee, slipping and sliding as I went. I wanted to go out for a short ride along the waterfront after it warmed up a bit and the ice melted, so after coffee I returned to the apartment and stood by for another hour to wait for the sun to clear the pavement.

When Rachael returned from her spin class and reported that there was a parade underway in Chinatown it prompted me to step out the door with the camera. It’s only about a two mile bike ride to Lan Su, but with a stiff wind blowing it felt like enough of an outing in this cold. Unfortunately, when I arrived at Lan Su there was nothing on. The parade was over, and the rest of the day’s scheduled festivities in the garden had been cancelled and the gardens were closed due to inclement weather.

After hanging around for a bit and taking a few photos I started biking home. Almost immediately it began lightly snowing and picked up significantly as I biked along the waterfront, getting colder by the minute. By the time I got home my hands were pretty well frozen and it took several minutes under running warm water until they felt normal again. I was not surprised - when I was sold my new warm gloves I was told they were only good to about 35 degrees, which is fine with me. They’re comfortable, and I seldom bike any real distance when it’s colder than that anyway.

Ten minutes after I returned home the snowfall ceased and the sky cleared. So, not bad - a four mile ride, and I managed to catch the only snowfall of the day.

Not much of a snowfall last night. A disappointment, after a few inches had been predicted.

So sad. Lan Su Chinese Garden is shut for inclement weather, spoiling their planned festivities.

At least I can peer in through the windows

This looks and feels like it could get serious. The ground is cold enough that it starts sticking immediately.

The Fremont Bridge is out there somewhere.

In the evening Rachael dispensed with a final bit of business from last spring’s sale of our condo - using up the balance of the gift certificate for Burrasco that our real estate agent gave us in thanks for our business (and to gently bribe us for a good review, I suspect). Burrasco is another favorite Italian restaurant here in Portland. I had lasagna, but to honor The Year of the Pig Rachael ordered the pork loin - a massive serving that she was unfortunately unable to complete without assistance.

Not much question about what our favorite cuisine is, is there? Since returning to Portland we’ve been making the rounds, dropping in on our favorites: Burrasco, Nostrana, Justa Pasta, Cafe Mingo, and Gallo Nero. It’s imporant to stay in training so we’ll be up to the challenge of twelve straight weeks of Italian meals this spring.

I think consuming the honored beast is a perfectly fine way to observe Chinese New Year. We’re pretty picky eaters though and will take a pass on The Year of the Rat.

Afterwards, we went for a short walk along the waterfront to see the last of the Portland Winter Light Festival. It sprawls along both banks of the river, but we were content to just see what was close by our condo and then scurry back to the room and warm up again.

The Morrison Bridge and the convention center are lit tonight, as they are every night. Not part of the festival, but they coordinate with it nicely.

This was my favorite lighted attraction. The color pattern changes constantly. It would have made a nice video if I’d been willing to stand still and unglove my hands long enough for it.

The real star of the show tonight was an aerial artist, seen dangling from a scaffold on the lower left.

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