My sister also married a Brown. She had 5 daughters. All are married with families spread far and wide: Kuwait, Los Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Salem and Eugene making a holiday celebration complex to coordinate. January 21st was the chosen date. Later the Women's March on Washington was scheduled the same day. We have never discussed politics and I was pleasantly surprised when everyone, including husbands, was enthusiastically "in" on exchanging the traditional family gift giving with participating in the WMW and giving voice to human rights and environmental concerns. We agreed to meet in Portland and join the rally there. I have experienced protest rallies from Save French Pete, to anti-Nam, to ERA, to the first and many Earth Day's. No one else in the family had ever been to a rally.
Before I left for Portland, Vineman displayed my not-quite-finished protest sign. My sister wondered if all the holes in his head were also part of the statement.
T
he WMW-Portland march started with a morning Mother's March. My niece took her daughter and posted about the experience: "I will no longer accept the things I cannot change. I will change the things I cannot accept. Proud to be raising the next generation of activits, and show my daughter that she has a voice".
The official WMW route. What was expect to be 20,000 to 30,000 attendees turned out to be over 100,000 participants in a peaceful, affirming march. I noted that at least 1/3rd were male.
Soaking wet from by the time we got from the MAX stop to joining the crowd at the official start time.
Almost to the "official start" about 2 blocks and an hour later.
The noise from bands, drums and cheering under the bridge was incredible.
We made it to the "official start".
The crowds behind us.
Family group picture at the "official starting place"
The crowds in front of us.
By the time we got to the Hawthorn bridge the rally was to end in one hour. We turned the first corner and soaking wet to the skin, we back-tracked to hike over the bridge to catch transit home. At least three of Portland's Willamette River bridges were closed to foot traffic only. I don't know if that has ever happened before.
Thank heavens for smart phones and a generation that knows how to use them. Roads with transit stops were closed to crowds. Buses and MAX cars were packed to the gills with faces pinned to the windows. Using transit and map apps, we were able to locate and utilize three different modes of public transport to finally get home for our family holiday celebration.
After coffee and pizza, while the girls took turns with the baby, the guys and I were busy creating our holiday toast.
I am now a believer in not believing everything you see on FB. I had found a video of making S'mores Shooters. They were simple and beautiful in the video. Shooter glasses rimmed with chocolate syrup coated crushed graham crackers; filled with kuala and vodka over a choc syrup bottom and; finished with a flaming marshmallow on top. The recipe called for heavy cream with the liqueur but I didn't have cream and besides I like black Russians better than white Russians so we created them without the cream. All went well with only a few spills - shooter glasses are deceptive when pouring from a liqueur bottle - until it came time to flame the marshmallows. First we tried a hand torch like in the video. That resulted in a small, distasteful, blackened spot on the marshmallow without toasting. Then we decided to soak the marshmallows in vodka and try to light them. Same result though tastier. Then a tray of vodka soaked marshmallows was taken to the shop for a blow torch lighting. The ending result can easily be visualized. Next was a plate of marshmallows in the microwave. The sticky glob was useless to our project. (Honest we did not imbibe in anything but marshmallows during the production process.) Lastly was a tray of marshmallows under the over broiler. We had our toasted tops. The only problem at this stage was that the hot marshmallows continued to expand when they were put on top of the shooter glasses. The over-spill from liqueur below was wiped off. The glasses were placed on a clean tray and everyone was wisely brought from the living room with it's carpet to the kitchen to toast our unique and successful holiday celebration.
I do not have the video but needless to say it is hilarious. The drinks were sweet and strong. I had to rush to a glass of water to quell my throat of the first sip. By the time I got back, milk was procured and the remains of the drink was diluted. There was a reason the recipe called for cream. We'll see if S'More Shooters remain a part of the Lee-Brown Holiday celebration.
Vineman the next day sporting the other side of my WMW sign.
