There’s a shop in a bright red double decker bus at the Hawthorne/32nd  food cart pod, that’s so alluring  we visited it two Sundays in a row.  As you might imagine it can feel cramped – and cold in this chilly weather – but its Middle Eastern/Christmas decor – and uniqueness – is decked out so nicely we couldn’t stay away.  Like Tea Chai Te in a railway car in Sellwood, or Grindhouse in a quasi kiosk on N. Rosa Parks Way, we marveled at the founders’ perseverance for creating a welcoming community place in an unorthodox structure.

Our discussion topics on the 13th stretched from the interfaith march on climate change that M helped organize, to the parental strengths at Rigler School, to E’s family’s upcoming trip to the Yucatan thanks to one of those guiding light parents, to the upsides/downsides of increased densities that corridors like N. Williams are undergoing.

The  stream of the 13th’s discussion started with the gyrations involved in scheduling holiday  events in modern day families: not only do our children/grandchildren have in-laws to accommodate, but ex-spouses as well; to the spectrum of behaviors in grandchildren at gatherings, from those who are even tempered – often girls – to antsy boys;  to movie recommendations – The Wolfpack, Spotlight, All Things Must Pass; to a recommendations for the podcast Serial; to wireless sound system options; to breathing techniques and memory exercises to help get back to sleep in the middle of the night.

3207 SE Hawthorne