A Little Culture

I didn't get much of a day off on Monday as I was busy finishing off the dining room renovations in anticipation of the staff party that wasn't.  Then as the (threat of) snow piled up throughout the week, and school was cancelled on Wednesday, I had plenty of time to catch up on other work.

So when school was cancelled again on Friday (more on all the snow later) I was able to take the day off and have some fun. I started the day with a haircut, a trip to the Post Office, and a nice phone chat with Fr. Jim Gallagher, whom all of us in the Portland crew miss dearly. Then I headed downtown for the rest of the day.

I had a very quick and small lunch among the Christmas shoppers at the Pioneer Place Mall. The highlight of lunch was when a kind parishioner from the Madeleine parish came over to introduce herself, wish me a Merry Christmas, and thank me for having filled in there several months ago. 

After lunch I saw a movie, which I haven't done in months! I saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was absolutely amazing (again, more on that later).  Afterwards, I walked the few blocks to Jake's Grill for dinner. Jake's Famous Crawfish is one of the oldest restaurants in Portland. I've been there several times and really enjoyed it.  But I had never been to the much newer sister restaurant, the "Grill" which, with Jake's, is part of the McCormick and Schmick family of restaurants. I had a generous gift certificate that had sat unused for quite some time, so I treated myself to a nice dinner: dirty martini, French onion soup and a steak!

Fortified against the cold night air, I walked Broadway and took in all the holiday lights, including the large tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square. All the while, snow was gently falling and I was in heaven listening to Christmas music on my ipod, sipping a hot chocolate!

My stroll not only helped me to walk off some of my dinner, it helped me waste time before my next engagement: I had tickets to the Portland Baroque Orchestra's Christmas concert.

When I first came to Portland as a deacon Fr. Claude Pomerleau, CSC, then superior of the community at UP, invited me to join a group of priests who were seeing the PBO's performance of the Messiah. It was the first time I had heard the entirety of the Messiah and I've tried to make a Christmas tradition of it ever since.

Last night's performance was not the entirety of the Messiah - that was scheduled for tonight and was sold out. But the selections from Bach and from Handel's Messiah that were performed were wonderfully done. It was a perfect ending to a great day off filled with relaxation, conversation, great food and beauty!