January 6, 2025
The Raven has landed
A short, quick post to report that Bruce annd Andrea arrived in Portland this afternoon with the Raven. This puts this post out of chronological order with other earlier posts still backlogged in the queue, but it seemed consequential enough to jump it to the front and publish this happy news now.
Rachael was out on a hike up to Pittock Mansion, another test for her new compression ankle socks, when she received the call from Andrea that they were in town and over in their neighborhood unloading their gear before driving the Raven over to us, followed by Andrea in her car to drive them back home in again afterwards.
Rachael took the call at 3:25 and immediately called me. And less than 40 minutes later Bruce called announcing that he and the Raven were waiting outside the door of our building. I threw on my sandals and rushed down, ceremonial and celebratory photographs were taken to commemorate the momentous occasion, warm embraces were exchanged, and ten minutes later they drive off in Andrea’s car to resume their own unpacking and think about matters such as food.
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Rachael arrives ten minutes later, stressed (with good reason) about walking back from the hills on West Burnside instead of one of the calmer streets in the Alphabet District. Once she’s here we immediately drive over to West End Bikes for servicing Rodriguez, to round his flat front tiresand adjust his gears. And I’m really appreciative that our friends went out of the way to bring the car over so early in the day so I could get the bike in before the shop closes for the day. Because my hope is rhat if he’s mobile and ready to ride and conditions are conducive I’ll take him out for a last spin down by Oaks Bottom before locking him away for the rest of the winter. Rachael stays with the car while I take the bike in for an assessment, and I return twenty minutes later with the happy news that I can pick him up when they open at ten tomorrow morning.
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And then we drive back to our building and stuff Rachael’s bike and the other returned belongings into our already overstuffed cell; and then I drive almost next store to park the car in its spot in Elizabeth’s building. And as I speak, Rachael is happily unpacking our left-behinds, squealing with each new discovery. Oh, here are the magnesium supplements I’ve been looking high and low for!
So thanks again, Bruce and Andrea, for bailing us out in our in our time of need. And thanks also to the other half of the rescue team, George and Liz!
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So what could be better than this smooth closure of a complicated tale? Nothing, I’m sure you’re thinking, this is complex problem resolution nirvana. Read on though, for the most astonishing part of the story remains to be told. Let’s go back to that phone call from Rachael at 3:26 informing me that the car had arrived. This was quickly followed though by three additional calls, coming in evenly spaced over the next ten minutes:
3:28: Bruce calls and we discuss the timing of the handoff. We agree it will be sometime later in the day, perhaps after dark when the rush hour has passed and they’ve had time to unpack and settle in first. Rodriguez can wait for the next morning for servicing, which is perfectly fine. There’s time.
3:32: Andrea calls, unexpectedly. I give her the news that Bruce and I have already come to an agreement but it’s not that. She’s calling to let me know that she’s looking at my face. It’s in her hand, staring back from my drivers license that she looked down while she was unpacking their things from and spotted me looking up at her from my driver’s license from the floor, down in the crevice between the passenger seat and the door, where it had somehow apparently fallen. That would be the same driver’s license I lost in my walkabout the day before I landed in the Emergency Room; the one I feared I’d never be able to renew because I couldn’t pass the vision test for; the one I’ve been trying to just renew online, but can’t because I’m missing some information found only on the lost card itself; the card that will allow me to buy my own nonalcoholic beer. That driver’s lisence. In case I’m interested.
I’m interested. Interested enough that I almost collapse on the floor with laughter. What a spectacularly unexpected denouement to the story. I can’t wait to tell Rachael.
3:35: it’s Andrea again. She’s moved on to the back seat now, and found a credit card I’m also missing. I remember Rachael and I puzzling at the time over whether I might be missing a card but let it pass. Our minds were more caught up with going blind and stuff.
So there’s a bit more going on at that meeting than than just the handoff of the keys, rhe delivery of the car, the bikes, and the baggage; the commemorative photos; and the warm, enthusiastic embraces. There was this too, which ends up stealing the show:
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