Went for a long run along the river on the Eastbank Esplanade tonight. Prime conditions -- upper 40s, light rain, light southerly breeze. The river is way up and rolling; you could feel the esplanade deck bobbing up and down ever so slightly.

Along the route, I thought about the fact that I've lived here in Portland for 24-plus years. And how lucky I am to be able to say so. It is such a great city, in a great region, blessed with great residents.

For the first half of my time here, my affection and gratitude were pure and unadulterated. Along about halfway through, though, concern and frustration about the politics of the place began to seep in. Maybe it's because I'm older, but now I see Portland as having so much work to do, and wasting so much of its resources on the wrong choices. I can't be content to just sit back in amazement and enjoy it any longer. So I do my little internet pamphleteer act here, and hope it will help bring about at least a tiny bit of change.

At the school where I teach, we have many activist students. One of the things they are taught is to be sure to stop working to save the world every now and then, so that they can get out and enjoy what it is they're trying to save.

Tonight I did.