Took my brother and his wife to the airport this morning. They were back in Montana by 2:30 in the afternoon. No having to deal with the long hours of driving and snow in the mountain passes, just a few bumps of turbulence along the way. Later I went over to Thea and Ema's house (Ema means "mother" in Estonian") near Milwaukie, OR. Ema made some spinach soup and pirokas for lunch. Pirokas are little pastries filled with meat and vegetables. They're my favorite Estonian food item, and Ema has promised to teach me how to make them. After lunch I helped Thea put up Christmas lights around their front yard on the tall shrubbery and rhododendron trees. It was cold and the bushes were damp, but it felt good to be doing light labor out of doors for a couple of hours.Thea has been collecting information for me about theater activity in Portland, which I appreciate very much. She told me about a "Callboard" section in the Monday Oregonian that lists upcoming auditions. I was able to find it online, and it looks like it will be valuable. I feel like I'm just barely starting to get a glimmer of what is out there. In the Willamette Week, I found a listing for a company called the "Working Theater Collective" that sounds quite interesting. Their inaugural production is titled A Story that Ends and Begins with a Dream.
