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November 4, 2010

Oregonian day: Minto Brown, countryside, friends, minimalism

(4/8/10)
I had an amazing day in Oregon today.

1.  Minto Brown Park.  I went to this 900 acre park on an overcast, 55 degree day.  It was lovely.  As long as I'm back in the USA, I'm attempting to do All Things Oregon.  I'm doing well fulfilling this goal given that I've not walked around Minto Brown in at least 10 years.



















It was drizzling.  The birds were singing.  The blossoming trees had laden the air with sweet fragrance.   The joggers all said hello in a kind tone.  The ground was sodden from our intense rain.  And it was wonderful.



 I wandered with Jesse, a friend from McNary High.  We met Mary, a lovely woman who enjoys birding.  She shared her telescope with us, and I practiced the art of digiscoping, which means taking a close-up digital photo using a telescope.  Check out all her binoculars and cameras!

The herring made a gorgeous subject.
Thanks, God, Jesse, Jeff the Biker, Mista Herron, and Miss Mary the Birder!



2.  Courtney H's house in the countryside.

I recently got rid of over half my wardrobe.  My friend Courtney helped me with decision making.

Tables turned:  I drove out to her place near Monitor, Oregon.  Her farm house is actually quite quaint.  In the middle of nothing.  And the 30 minute drive there is calming as I watched the snow-capped hills just in front of me, and the roads curved around local farmers, including that of Mallory's Dairy - The dairy providing the milk I mentioned earlier which is just miles from my house.  We ate a crock pot dinner with chicken raised on her farm.  YUM!



Check out this sweater:  She actually won this "ugly Christmas sweater" at a party.  Time to give it up, Court.  (Fortunately she did not fight me on this decision.)

We sorted through about half her clothing, and got rid of 91 items.  YAY!  It's an effort to rid yourself of the familiar, the comfortable, and the useful. But is it something you really need?  Probably not.

I left a bottle of wine and a bag of chocolate at her house as motivation for me to come back soon.  Our next sorting date is set for next Wednesday...  CHEERS!

4 comments:

  1. nice! i have quite a pile of clothes to give away or get rid of. every time i bring something new home i throw at least twice that into the pile. every time i do laundry and put clothes away, i throw a few more things into the pile. then i let my friends and sisters choose what they want from the pile, take it to clothing exchanges (where if i bring home clothes i am sure to bring home LESS than i brought with me and immediately get ride of other things that the new clothes will replace) and what's left over from the exchange gets donated.

    and STILL i have a gluttony of belongings

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  2. I chose to follow in your footsteps. Except... I take no clothing home with me! Thank you for your ideas, and certainly I laud you on your lifestyle!
    loverose

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  3. Random:
    Someone found this blog post by googling

    "how many pajamas should a minimalist have"

    And I smiled.

    I have only one clothing item dedicated to pjs. In case you are wondering.

    I have 1 pair fleece pj bottoms, two regular pairs, and wear my normal sweaters, fleeces and tank tops to bed. The fleece and regular (fuzzy red) PJ pants are also worn every cold day under my black slacks. :)

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  4. T - My sister just gave me four shirts, a dress, and capri pants (for rock climbing.) I feel bad for taking the clothes at all, but I only own about four t-shirts, and they all jam up in my armpits and I detest wearing them. Perhaps I will do a clothing exchange with the "donation" garbage bag in my closet...
    <3 r

    ReplyDelete