By Rick Devereux
Summer is my favorite time of the year. Everything about it suits me just fine.
I enjoy grilling. I enjoy drinking beer or an iced cocktail from time to time. I enjoy wearing flip-flops and shorts. I enjoy hanging out at a baseball game.
So even though it isn’t quite summer yet (summer solstice is June 21), summer is more about an attitude than a date on the calendar.
Summer attitude means taking things slow, relaxing more, stressing out less, having a more carefree way of life. Summer seems to me to be a time of action, even if that action is sleeping in a hammock while the sun sets over the West Hills.
Summer in Oregon and Southwest Washington is gorgeous, thanks in a large part to the seven months of rain that precede summer. There are plenty of events, locations or activities that are purely Portland in the summer.
1) Nothing says summer like baseball. A quintessential summer experience is sitting in bleacher seats, eating a hot dog and drinking a cool beverage. The AAA All-Star Game will be played at PGE Park July 15 (the Homerun Derby will be two days early on July 13).
2) Watching the city of Portland settle in for the night while the sun sets is a beautiful thing. One of the best views of the city can be taken in from the Pittock Mansion atop the West Hills. The Mansion is a museum featuring collections from local artists, but it also holds special events throughout the year. “Artists after Hours” on May 23 is one such event. Wine, live music, breathtaking views and stunning art collections will have give you the type of relaxation associated with summer’s evening, even if summer is a month away.
3) Bobbing reggae music is my choice for a summer soundtrack. I have been known to pop in a reggae CD during the rainy season just to cheer myself up. Hopefully it won’t be raining come August 7. That is the start of the three-day Northwest World Reggae Festival in Mohawk Valley, Ore. (about 115 miles of Portland/10 miles north of Eugene). I and I will be there. Boy!
4) I go through propane during the summer like the city of Portland goes through proposed sites for a new baseball stadium. I have been known to become so desperate during winter to grill in the snow. The best ingredients to use while grilling (or cooking anything, actually) are fresh ingredients. Going to the Farmer’s Market is always a great bet, but planting your own could be fun. I am no green thumb, but Oregon State University offers an extension course that could transform me into a ‘Master Gardener.’ I just like how that sounds. If you want any more cooking ideas, pick up a copy of Edible Portland magazine or visit their website.
5) I know I pretty much exhausted the topic in my last blog (Be afraid, be very afraid), but one last thing about swine flu – Consumer Reports says the hype helped slow the spread. So even though I ridiculed the overblown attention given to the H1N1 outbreak, that attention made people aware of the flu and probably made them take extra precautions in not getting the flu. It seems the fear-mongering helped slow the spread. Still, I blame this guy for the start of this whole thing.
6) OK, here's one that I'm adding on a little late, but it's such an amazing story, I just had to let everyone know about it. Have you ever seen one of the movies from the 'Alien' series? The whole alien bursting through the stomach thing is a pretty big fear of mine. Well, it seems an English man had a near-Alien experience. He started bleeding through his belly-button and went to the doctor. FOX News is reporting his stomach ruptured, and an embryonic twin emptied out! Luckily, The Sun has pictures of the guy with his twin brother. The blog Filmdrunk has the story, too, and with totally different pictures (Warning: These pictures are not about the story whatsoever, but are funny).
If you have any questions, comments, concerns or ideas you would like covered, email me at rdevereux@koin.com.
