Falling in Love Again

December 28, 2024

I hope you enjoy this lovely old jazz classic, one I’ve never heard before but I suspect my friend Frank knows well. I was just looking for a song to go with the title I had in mind, and was lucky to find a perfect match..

No, I’m not falling in love with Rachael again, silly. We’ve never fallen out of love with each other, like that would ever happen - so how could we fall back in again? And it’s not with Roddy either. He and I aren’t on speaking terms at the moment but it’s a distance thing, not for lack of mutual affection. This is sadly something that happens with regularity, but we’re good with it.

It’s like sailors wives waiting for the love of their life to return from the sea. They’ll welcome each other with open arms when they finally reunite, and then just pick up right where they left off months or seasons or years ago. It’s just the same with Roddy and me. He doesn’t get jealous of my time with Bike #2, because he knows he’s the best. It’s not quite the same though, because he doesn’t have any arms to wrap me in but those strong steel handlebars feel warm enough when I wrap my hands around them again. A warm embrace in his rims would be to die for of course, but those spokes get in the way,

So who then, who? Well, it’s not quite a who actually. It’s more like an it than a who. It’s the Rose City, a place both Rachael and I once loved for years but never really expected to be drawn back to after it entered such a dark era. I’m surprised to find I’m unexpectedly falling in love again.

Really, there are so many spots in Portland I’d love to see again, even if we only touch base briefly from time to time. At its best it’s really a beautiful place.

July 1, 2019: upper body strength test in front of the orange wall of Oba! I’ve got so many great memories of this city and our neighborhood, but this old wall still makes the Team blue when we walk past. We were so sad when Oba! finally went under somewhere around the Covid Year, it was always our favorite happy hour spot in the neighborhood, probably our favorite one anywhere. We really miss those last best years from Portland

Roddy’s had his own fallout with Portland too at just about the same time, too, but I suspect he’ll come around too. Moping around in a dark storage locker for nine months at a time probably hasn’t helped his mood either, but I think he’d be a pretty easy sell, really. Just an easy nudge or two in the right direction would probably do it.

Roddy loved to pose in front of that orange wall too back then. Sauvie Sunday in March, big guy?

I can’t speak for Rachael, who probably has her own thoughts on the matter. She might be surprised to hear of my feelings or think it wierd and not share my sentiment at all, but maybe at least if I remind her of some favorite spots in the region she’ll be OK to drop in and drag her wheels or heels a little longer while I’m checking in with the doctors from time to time.

April, 2015: On empty, blissful Highway 216 near Grass Valley on a four night getaway (“The Roosevelt Loop”). It was one of a set of similar getaways we took that Spring in training for Team Anderson’s upcoming high water mark, our month-long tour of the French Alps. Remember those Pasco Rides, Rocky? We wouldn’t do it like that again of course, but there’d be great bases for day rides in the sun still waiting nearby over there to be seen again.

Or we might just head down Terwilliger and catch the sunset from time to time. Its not always rainy here, after all.

I’m not worried she’d be jealous or maybe made to feel insecure by my new old flame though. She knows who’s at the top of my heart, and it’s not the Rose City even in her finest years. And sorry next best friend, but it’s not you either, Roddy. It’s always been Rocky.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	12
Comment on this entry	Comment	11

Bob KoreisHmm. Don't recall ever hearing the Billie Holiday version. I always associate the song with Marlene Dietrich.

I used to visit PDX on a fairly regular basis back in the mid 90s. What I miss from those trips is the Bridgeport brewpub pre gentrification of what is now called the Pearl District. I loved the character of the place before it got all gussied up. Now it's gone. At least Powell's is still there. Every city has its difficulties, but Portland has a lot to going for it.

Sounds like you have a good ophthalmologist. Even if my eyes and brain could do a reset to 20/20, I'd probably still wear polycarbonate lenses with all of the bell and whistle coatings. So many times a liquid or solid has stopped at the lens rather than getting to the lens of my eyeball.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Bob KoreisOh my god, I used to love Bridgeport in those days. It was about four blocks from our condo and occasionally I’d go over after work, grab a pint, and sit on its east deck looking across at the old industrial character that was still there. It was a sad day when they remodeled, modernized, and stripped the character out.

I wonder if you and I might have unknowingly crossed paths then. It’s entertaining to imagine.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Bob DistelbergFirst of all, it’s been wonderful reading about the positive health news over the last couple of posts. Seems like you’ve done an amazing job dealing with all this, much better than I think I could have ever done in that situation. I’m also selfishly happy that it seems like I just might get to read about more Team Anderson adventures in the future.

Also great to read about your love of Portland. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit, even when it was getting some negative press. Hopefully I’ll get there one of these days.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Karen PoretI haven’t been to PDX since 1972. What I do remember about it was Rose’s Deli where they had a fun house mirror which made you appear fatter than a house when you entered and one when exiting which made you appear long and thin. Imagine that after eating ( I just looked) at those donuts which were the size of a dinner plate and cakes the size of platters! Trip up there was not without its headaches as I was in a VW Thing with four of my girlfriends from grammar school in SF. Thanks for the memory blurb, Scott. Now we return to you.. :)
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Karen PoretRose’s Deli finally closed after 15 years in 2011. We lived within a mile of it in its last years and biked past it many times but I’m not sure I ever stepped inside. I’ve never been a dessert person and don’t really have a sweet tooth. I don’t think I knew they had a funhouse mirror.

What that does remind me of though is riding the Big Dipper at the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park with my sister and cousins, in what must have been about 1956 right after we moved back from West Virginia. It was the biggest roller coaster on the west coast when it was built, and I can still bring back the thrill of going over the top and plummeting straight down the Big Drop. I was around ten years old, and it was the best roller coaster ride of my life. .

Afterwards we wandered around, got lost in and spooked by the Fun House, another experience that left a great impression on the.young me. I can still bring back bits of that memory of the fun house, wandering through its distorting and disorienting Hall of Mirrors. So I wonder if I haven’t seen that mirror in Roses too, but from much earlier. The timing is about right though - one could have ended up at Roses after the Fun House and the whole amusement park shut down a few years after we got there. It finally went out in around 1958 with the building of the freeway bridge across the Columbia.

So thanks for the memory trip yourself, Karen. Happy new year!
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Bob DistelbergThanks, Bob. I’m happy to say expect there still to be TA journals to read into the TA journals for a good while yet. I’m glad you find value in them, and it’s a greater relief than you can imagine for me to look forward to creating them and then reliving our lives afterwards by dipping into them. At its darkest days, this was something that truly anguished me. What will I do with my time and my mind if I’m just lying here unable to capture and save the moments. It’s been the best self-therapy possible to help me weather the storm over the past month.

Happy New Years, I hope we meet again someday. I still love thinking back on meeting up with you in Millerton on the HVRT three years back: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/msptonyc2021/to-lakeville/

I’d forgotten so much about the ride south from Middlebury, and just relived the next five or six days trying to place the meetup after mentally placing it was back in Vermont.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Carolyn van HoeveThe green light! Such excellent news! I knew this wasn’t how your story was meant to go. The Andersons have emerged from the abyss and saved us from the terrible prospect of not having a daily report to look forward to. It brightens my every day. This has become more than just a cycling blog. Thank you for letting us into your life.
What a great way to end 2024. It must feel like a gift.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Carolyn van HoeveYou’re right, Carolyn. It does feel like a gift, one priceless one after another for a week straight now. And although you I’m sure you can imagine how it feels, you can’t really. I can’t either, as one miraculous piece of my past self snaps back into place, something I feared was gone for good. Yesterday at coffee I looked around the cafe and realized all the faces in the distance had returned.almost overnight. You can’t imagine.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Carolyn van HoeveAnd I finally got around to reading your updated, expanded profile page.. I love learning some of your own story. We should figure out a way to meet face to face someday.
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Carolyn van HoeveI’ll hold you to that. Just don’t go and do anything crazy like this again for awhile. And even better news that your sight keeps improving! I know you were already living and loving your life with gratitude but moving forward your life will be even more joyful for having gone through this terrible time.
Also I thought your idea for centre based cycle touring down here is an excellent one! Whilst cycling infrastructure has certainly improved, there is still a lot of unsealed riding if you want to avoid the main roads and unforgiving drivers. Basing yourself will give you lots of different opportunities, particularly for some beautiful hiking (or tramping as it’s called here) and you’ll be able to set a whole new record for bird spotting.
Your world has returned!
Reply to this comment
3 weeks ago

Scott AndersonTo Carolyn van HoeveI’m thinking of that as a background idea. If we came down there and maybe Tasmania instead of Tucson next December (but what an ugly long flight!), maybe I’d have a 400 bird year. Something to mull over in the months ahead. Gotta get to Tuscany first though.
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago