Yesterday we met with the hardworking folks of Clean Water services and water specialists from all over North Oregon to talk about their biggest challenges and their biggest hopes regarding beaver. It was a pretty amazing meeting to hear these field operations men and women voluntarily taking time out of their morning to discuss beaver! (I kept wishing our public works team were there to see how they might be able to think if they tried. )
Then, free and easy with zero more commitments, we traveled up the other side of Portland, stopped for some very exotic tidbits at World Food, drove across the St. John’s Bridge and headed for a picnic at Cathedral Park.
The park is awesome and sprawling, with towering columns that make you feel tiny and undetected, framed by the wide slowish Willamette
and tall fluttering trees teaming with birdlife. We soon realized why, since the local Black Cottonwoods were blowing snowdrifts of soft white fluff from their blooming stalks everywhere and a million bush tits were making the softest possible nests for their babies.
Then we came back home just in time to receive some awesome photos from Jean about progress on the mural which now spans the entire bridge, features three beavers, a turtle, an egret, and a lovely green heron based on Rusty’s photo!
Today we pack up for our days at the coast. Thanks Portland! It’s been bea-very exciting!
