Portland Coffee Hangouts

Five of us plus E’s young companion/son Sidney, took out this cool, cloudy morning for this reliable favorite on Hawthorne.  Common Grounds is one of Portland’s pioneers – starting 20+ years ago – in creating a homey environment for its patrons.   With newspapers and magazines, wall art, posters for local events, comfy couch options, some toys, and more, it’s able to convey its desire to have customers come and stay.

With E away for a while, there were updates to share on his personal projects, city planning issues related to density, and May travel plans to Europe; G shared the stressful situation around his mother-in-law’s health; D shared the latest news from Cully; M shared the connections he was continuing to work on with other organizations on environmental issues; and H explained how the good weather tempted him to do more in his backyard than was wise, and worse how he relied on ibuprofen to continue working, ultimately ending up in urgent care.

4321 SE Hawthorne     commongroundspdx.com

Five of us were back on Hawthorne – after successful recent visits to the Tov Bus and Tabor Bread – discovering another fine place in  which to hang out.  In fact, we favor this Coava outpost over their SE Grand home, which has some wonderful intriguing things to look at, but is a challenge to hang out in.

While Grand shares its space with a manufacturer of bamboo floors and furniture, Hawthorne’s shares space with a housing complex; as such there are a couple of couches and wall art, as well as wonderful metal work.  And maybe those elements were what encouraged us to spend almost 90 minutes there in spirited discussions.

T, who was raised as a foster child, started out the session by proudly reporting the milestone that he recently was in phone contact for the first time with the family of his birth mom.  His mother had passed, but his new-found aunt and cousins back in NJ embraced him totally.   J then told us of his family milestone in securing a nursing home spot nearby in NE for his 96 yr. old mother-in-law, whose family caretaker had suddenly passed away in Salem.  G. next relayed the difficult situation his ailing mother-in-law in hospice in Spokane, is going through, and the challenges for his wife D who’s been by her side for more than a week.

Switching subjects, H told about attending the lively Mardi Gras Ball the night before, and recommended the upcoming parade on Mississippi on Tuesday; he was awed by how bouyant several older couples were on the dance floor.  D then posed the challenging questions that the planning subcommittee he is on faces with regards to Portland attaining equitable housing and transportation for its citizens.  These are gnarly issues and he didn’t think they could be solved without some radical actions.  Today’s conversations were particularly provocative.

2631 SE Hawthorne        coavacoffee.com

G and H headed out this cold but dry morning, G’s 67th birthday, for the bakery that H started to frequent for its seeded rye bread that was kind to his blood sugar.  Unlike many busy bakeries that don’t include homey touches into their facilities, Tabor had a wonderful sound system playing seminal folk music, art on its walls, indirect lighting, and more.

—

h

Topics of interest today included G’s chi gung training role in the meditation classes his center sponsored, the lopsided number of females who were participating, the stress his wife was under as her mother’s health was failing, H’s health concerns about his brother, and fantasizing about what their friends who were visiting Cuba were doing right now.

5051 SE Hawthorne      http://www.taborbread.com

Henry Higgins was one of the operations that opened after the 2011 sale of Kettleman Bagels.  Until 7 months ago it operated as a weekend pop-up first in NE off Sandy/52nd, and then in inner SE at Ash/5th.   Though the bagels were satisfying, the tiny spaces weren’t conducive to hanging out.

Seven months ago HH opened a daily operation – 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – on SE Foster, and we’re glad to report it felt bustling, and the bagels still tasted great on this chilly, dry Sunday morning.  However, though bright and airy with old-time deli cases, this facility is not a great place to hang out in as the number of seats&tables are limited, and could be more comfortable.

But that didn’t  stop us from having a long and fruitful discussion.  Topics today included D and his son trying to get into one of the city’s three Packers bars – Saraveza – at 12:30 for today’s 1:30 game, and the team’s playoff status; what each of the three of us received for the holidays – a subwoofer, alcohol, a nutri-bullet;  the wonders of modern hearing aids; the wonders of wireless audio speakers;

6420 SE Foster

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