GIVING BACK TO PORTLAND STARTS WITH A TOUR GUIDE

Giving back sounds like something you do just before dying.

It’s either the death of the giver, or the death of the receiver.

Now I know what you might be thinking: give back, or give up?

Neither one fits the bill of the giving back I’m doing, which is?

I’ve got a habit that came on gradually, and yesterday it sprung full force.

My dog, a big dog, enjoys a nice walk in the park.

If you read this and can’t remember the last time you had a nice walk in the park, it’s time.

For my big girl it’s time everyday. Why?

Because I too enjoy a good walk in the park. Luckily I’ve got a couple close enough to walk to.

Nothing ruins a good walk in the park than starting with a bad drive.

I’d do it for the dog, but my neighborhood is situated so I don’t have to.

The closest park is the one I gave back to when it mattered.

I first moved here and didn’t see a park. Instead, I saw an abandoned house and a slanted field surrounded by forest.

Slowly but surely the park idea found traction, the house was torn down, trails improved, and the maintenance began.

Now it’s a city park with a yearly load of bark dust to spread.

The word goes out in the community and people with kids and dogs that use the park volunteer and show up.

It makes for a wonderful day.

It’s great for me because I coached the wheelbarrow teams, starting with a fevered pep talk pitting parents against kids.

 Turns out the kids will outwork their parents given the proper motivation.

“You can’t let these old people show you up.”

 

Giving Back To Portland 

Yesterday I walked out of the park and noticed a younger couple with two big dogs of their own.

They were reading a sign when I interrupted.

I’d been in my own doggy thoughts up until then, preoccupied with dogmanship.

This happens when you move off the sidewalk so someone with two dogs can pass without incident.

I moved off the sidewalk recently, but not far enough and her dogs lunged out to me on their retractable dog leashes.

“PLEASE MOVE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET,” she screamed as her dogs and mine said hello.

She sounded like this was an emergency. It wasn’t.

And she’s barking orders at me like I’d have a thought of following them?

I stood petting the dogs during her frantic movements to control her animals.

That I’d never seen her before had no bearing on my decision to ignore the owner for the dogs.

I do the same with most dogs.

 

The two folks reading the sign in the park with their dogs looked like they’d never been there.

 

Me: Have you ever been here?

Them: No.

Me: Well, you’re in luck.

 

I spent the next five minutes giving them the layout.

It’s one of those places where you might not take a trail into the woods where you’ve never been.

While I don’t recommend wandering off in unknown woods, getting the feel of the place from a fellow dog walker is safe.

I could have talked longer, and have, lots of times, but I noticed the polite drift of attention and ended.

What’s worse than a guide who won’t shut up?

 

Who Has Lot’s To Say About Portland? 

I’ve taken out-of-towners around more than they’ve liked.

My wife has girlfriends from grade school who fly in for an annual gathering.

I’ve picked them up from the airport.

They’ve made frantic calls to my wife about the driving when she wasn’t with me, which is no surprise to her.

While I explain to passengers that I’m the best driver they’ve ever been in a car with, few agree, my wife included.

It happens when you know a city well enough to go off the beaten path, off of the freeways.

People worry when you take an off-ramp from the Banfield on the Eastside instead of staying the course on I-5, and hit the surface streets down to Water Ave and cross the river beginning under the Hawthorne Bridge.

It looked odd to me the first time and I’ve loved the route ever since. Not so much the passengers.

If it’s just the wife and I driving downtown she says this:

“I hear the tour guide tone in your voice. We’re not on a tour.”

Giving back to Portland carries the burden of always being on tour.

Is it really a burden? Not for me.

 

PS:

Today is a tour day for another town. It could be a burden without a tour guide, but I’ll find my way.

 

PSS:

Oregon is full of towns that see Portland differently, as a big ogre of a city full of miscreants.

Is it true? Of course, but are they any different than the miscreants you grew up with?

Nope, just more of them.