Portland: a collage

We've been here since Christmas Eve, leaving tomorrow for Olympia, Washington. This is contingent on the weather. It is snowing heavily. Kate and I are loving it, but since Portland has only one snowplow and no one seems to have snow tires this is iffy. I'll make a post within the next few days with an update.
I'm a bit pressed for time, so this will be something of a collage.
We love the hikes in Forest Park, NW section of town. Miles and miles of trails through doug fir/red cedar/big leaf maple forests. We followed a delightful stream for about a mile. Lots of people were out hiking on Christmas, which was fun.
We have been in the Southeast section of Portland for the last two days. We like this better than the Northwest on the whole. It's more laid back, funky, creative, progressive, oddball - the way the Bay Area was years ago. There's a nice food co-op, and a dessert cafe called Rimsky-Korsakofsky House with wonderful desserts and surreal decor. The lighting is kind of soft violet, and things like neclaces, a picture of Shrek and an onion dangle from the ceiling. The bathroom decorations are indescribable, you have to see them when you are in Portland.
The other night we went to see a movie, "Sita Sings the Blues" in which Nina Paley compares her divorce to the old Indian epic the Ramayana. Pretty cool movie. When we got to the theatre about 15 people were lined up outside but the theatre was closed. I went into the bar next door and got the owner's address from the bartender. Someone called and he said "I'll be right there."
He showed up five minutes later and laughed, "I guess I'm working tonight." Everybody laughed.
How good natured can you get?
You can see chickens walking around the neighborhoods and bald eagles flying over the Oak Bottom wildlife sanctuary. We went to a great park on the eastern edge of town today and great views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and other Cascades. People are friendly on the street and in restaurants; this part of town is open and accepting. Every restaurand has veggie and vegan options. People decorate walls by their houses with toy Spidermen, Wolverines and grazing deer.
They hand tire swings for their kids over the sidewalks, build treehouses adorned with Pirate flags and jave bumperstickers like "Zombies for Health Care Reform: Prople Before Profits". Busses are efficient, comfortable and on time and it seems safe to wander about at night (at least in this neighborhood.)
I could describe more but gotta get moving. It sure is snowing!