Portland 3 June 2024

A transaction day. First thing, we took our poor hurt car to the hurt car doctor, and then Chuck drove me into Salem to rent a car. It's a sad shadow of our real car, but we propose to stick with plan A.

We drove to Portland and lunch with Miriam and Joel Beinin, where we got a thorough update on the impossibility of a good resolution in Gaza until both sides agree that every human life is valuable. The situation there is very complicated, and even Joel, who's the west coast's authority on the subject, doesn't see a way through. We agreed that we sometimes despair of progress toward a peaceful and recovering planet due mostly to the greed and cluelessness of those in power . . . but we had a good lunch.

After rattling around aimlessly in SE Portand, we finally found Vanessa and Justino's house, where we'll be for the next couple of nights. 

Justino, whose first career was as a professional chef at Izakaya, capably assisted by Vanessa, prepared a Japanese dinner for Jessica, Isadora, Rochelle and me: better'n out! Perfect miso soup – “you just have to be careful not to burn it.” A shiso and salmon handroll was my favorite, but they were all delicious. J & A had made a run to Uwajimaya for a full complement of ingredients.

Bernie Sanders (the cat) supervises everything.