Day 237: Registering My Car, Watching the Redwings Soar & Sipping on Good Italian Wine

Saturday, May 10

I had every intention of waking up today and hitting all of the items on my ‘to do’ list, including getting my car to the Air Quality testing location in Sherwood for my emissions test and then over across the street to the DMV to process the registration and get my Oregon plates.  And then I wanted to go to a Hillary rally of mothers and women.  Followed by a workout.  And then I had two afternoon barbecues to go to before heading to Upper Deck for the Redwings game at 4:00 p.m.   That’s a lot to aspire to do when you wake up at 9:45 and get a later start than intended.

I did make it to the Air Quality testing location at 10:30 and was out of there by 11:22.  There was a line, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  I buzzed in and out of the DMV.  But I missed the Hillary rally.  I got home and got caught up on some writing projects and then had a bite to eat.  Before I knew it, it was 3:00 p.m.  I cleaned up and headed out for the Pearl District to watch the Redwings game with my friend.

The place was empty at first.  We watched the most exciting game, so far, as the Redwings had to hold on to their lead for most of the game.  But the did, in fact, beat the Dallas Stars.  As the game was coming to a close, Upper Deck was filling up with Lumberjax fans.  It’s refreshing to see so many lacrosse fans in this town.  We were going to stick around to watch the play off game up in Calgary, but it was really crowded and I was sick of eating burgers without the bun with a side of lettuce.  Most bars are limited in what they offer to the gluten-free customer.

So, we went over to Bar Mingo, the new bar adjacent to Caffe Mingo.  It’s a comfortable yet plush room with comfortable seated sections and a warm and friendly bar.  We sat up at the bar facing amazing old Chinese doors complete with old bolt and lock, and enjoyed the company of a very cool bartender.  He recommended a lovely glass of Barbera D’Alba Ratti 2006 that was served perfectly cool and had a smooth, rich texture.  I had an insalata with greens, sweet onions and warm goat cheese.  Then I had the sausage with spinach and polenta.  We had a second glass of red wine - a lush Valpolicella Ripasso Zenato.  This evening reminded me of how much I love Italian wines.  I then had gelato, that was actually just vanilla ice cream with a pear sauce.  I had a glass of Moscato d’Asti Elio Perrone to go with it.  We finished the evening with a Manhattan.  I called my dad who verified Makers Mark is safe for Celiacs to drink.  It was smooth with the lovely Italian amaretto cherries that I so love.

It was a fun evening.  My friend and I had engaged in some really heavy conversation.  But it was good to communicate opinions on political and cultural things, such as the diversity of Portland/Oregon and the election season.  Since I’ve left Washington, DC, I tend to shrink away from political conversation.  It’s great that people are passionate, but differences in opinion can often get quite ugly.  I’m not really interested in getting caught in that web.  But, it’s nice to have some dialog that makes you stop and think about why you believe in what you believe in, or why you support what you are supporting.  And that’s what our conversation did for me.