Category: Oregon

Loren and I began this week with our friend here on a drive around Lithia Park in downtown Ashland to see beautiful fall colors,

followed by a walk in the park. Lithia  park was designed by John McLaren, the same person who had laid out San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, It includes such features as  Lower and Upper Duck Ponds, grassy areas, a Japanese garden, lots of wonderful trails through lots of gorgeous trees, a few bridges over Ashland Creek… worth several visits.

Loren and I continued taking in offerings of the Ashland Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This week we saw All’s Well that Ends Well. As it was the final performance of the festival of All’s Well we were treated to the tradition of the entire company closing out a show.

We also saw Between Two Knees, intended to be a comedy about bookended events that happened in history at Wounded Knee. We believe this particular performance was more so attended by Native Americans, because we saw it on national Indigenous Day, aka Columbus Day. We also saw Indecent and Mother Road this week. And, we were delighted that our dear friend who was the Flower Girl at our wedding came with her boyfriend who we had not yet met from Portland. Together we saw La Comedia of Errors. This was performed by the same cast who performed Mother Road the night before, as both performances were bilingual portrayals of the plays. Afterwards we restaurant hopped for appetizers and finished the lovely evening at our favorite ice cream parlor. 

Not only is Lithia Park beautiful to see, but the whole of Ashland is ablaze in fall colors. We notice the hills behind the prominent Ashland Springs hotel have changed from simply green to displaying lots of yellows, not to mention the variety of colors in the foreground. And, the weather has changed toward the end of this week with more rain.

What amazes Loren the most is the variety of different trees and shrubs here that display their colorful best. He has seen fall colors before, but claims this is the first time he has ever stayed put in one place to see the intensity of color emerge over time.

Loren and I started this week with seeing the movie Judy. If you are at all a fan of Judy Garland we can recommend it, even though it mainly portrayed her sad, darker days. The next evening we went to see our dear friend here in Ashland perform in a play reading, along with several other dramatists, helping prepare for Halloween.

The venue was about an hour away in Grant’s Pass, and afterwards we four enjoyed a nice dinner beside the Rogue River.

Grant’s Pass has a fondness for animal statues, and I developed a fondness of photographing a few of the ones we saw there.

It has been fun to spend this extended time in the same town as our friends. We have so enjoyed visiting with them as often as we can. Our studio AirBnB is walking distance to their home and along the way we have seen some beautiful fall colors and other flora.

Loren and I also took in more of the arts that are so prevalent in Ashland. We visited the local theater for a World Film Week and specifically saw Rafiki, Cold Case Hammarskjold, and Fiddlin’ all of which we would also recommend. One evening before a film, we stopped for ice cream, and while it was delicious, we don’t want to make it a habit here.

Loren and I are continuing with attending more performances of Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This week we took in a discussion with one of the actors in a piece we saw last week, and, we attended the Shakespearean production of MacBeth. Another evening we thoroughly enjoyed a gathering at our friends’ home. The neighbors and friends of theirs who attended are good people, ones who Loren and I would enjoy knowing better. I forgot to take any photos though. The next day with our friends we stopped to see the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission’s World Peace Flame in a pavilion on the Southern Oregon University campus.

Then we had a lovely hike on part of the Pacific Crest Trail that takes in Mount Ashland,

and we spent a little time at Callahan’s, a lodge near Mount Ashland which is a stop similar to Kennedy Meadows in the California Sierras for Pacific Crest hikers. That evening we ate leftovers and totally enjoyed a rented copy of the compelling Bohemian Rhapsody together. This is yet another movie worth it to see if you have not yet.

As of now, I am more than half way through my 30 day yoga challenge, and it was quite inspiring to run into two different yoga teachers I know while we have been here this week – one was a teacher in the San Jose studio — but I didn’t have my camera when I saw her, the other taught here in Ashland and she and I had taught together in San Ramon recently. I also enjoyed teaching another couple of classes this week at this studio.

We hope you too are enjoying fall, especially for those of you who now have power back on in California… hopefully that was worth it to prevent another serious wildfire.

Loren and I have had a week of relaxation… in other words there is not as much to post. Therefore, below I will share my pride for one of my nieces, who composed a music video with an original song for her workplace, a care home. As the weather turned sharply cold in Ashland, Oregon this week, Loren and I spent more time indoors. We attended an evening of improv with dear friends which was put on by a group of women, named humorously enough, the Hamazons. The show celebrated their 10th anniversary of providing entertainment for the community. We also thoroughly enjoyed a couple of evenings of separate entertainment at our friends’ home – their large living room TV showed football games, and their sitting room showed great movies on an iPad. Can you guess which of the four of us watched in which room?

Loren and I also went to one of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival offerings that is not a Shakespearen play, How to Catch Creation. It was a potent and entertaining drama. That evening I nursed the start of a cold with a lemonade that I was allowed to bring into the theater because it was in one of the festival’s souvenir mugs.

One day the clouds were exceptionally brilliant. Loren went with one of our friends to an intro class all about the periodic table. It’s interesting to look at, showing all the chemical elements that make up our world, and,  the UN proclaimed 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table. That evening we all kept our eyes on the Oakland A’s Wild Card game… that they lost. I have been continuing my 30 day yoga challenge, am already more than a third through it. I’ve had the privilege to teach a class, and am on the schedule to teach another at this lovely studio.

Another day, Loren and I headed over to the Jackson Wellsprings hot springs, which has a large hot tub, pool, a wet sauna and a dry sauna. On our way home, I noticed a restaurant with the name Amuse. This amused me because earlier in the day I was actually revising a poem of mine from January 1, 2018, which I had named Amusement:

Amusement, A Haiku

I wonder, might a
muse feel amused, bemused or
enthused, by people?

Claire Adalyn Wright

As a result, Loren and I decided to splurge on a dinner there, for an early celebration of the 30th anniversary of the night when we met. On our way there, we noticed four deer in the dusk, just outside our AirBnB where Loren parks his bike. Because the fee we paid at the hot springs allowed us to return up to midnight, we went back for a second soak there.

Loren and I finished our week taking Ashland’s First Friday Art Walk with our friends. We saw three different music performances – at a market, in a cafe, and in a store, and saw lots of wonderful art for sale. I am also grateful that with taking the hot yoga, going to the hot springs, taking lots of vitamin C and resting, my cold has all but disappeared. 

In praise of my beautiful niece’s delightful artistic work, I culled photos from her music video. Her clip also includes photos of different coworkers of hers, and many more of the residents, but, I admit being biased and am only including snapshots of her here. Also, because this blog was hacked a couple of years ago, you might notice I have no longer named names of the people we love and visit with on our travels. Similarly, I am not sharing specific details of this video, all in an effort to try to protect the people who are most important to Loren and me. If you would like more details, please text, call or send an email, I am more than happy to share specifics with folks we know personally.