Slice of Life

Two for Wednesday

1) The other day when I left Brookings, OR, and headed south to the California redwoods, I passed through one of the state’s agriculture inspection stations. As I stopped, the inspector popped his head out and said, “Nice, that’s a bright green.” As he waved me by, he said, “Have a great day.” There was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the inspector himself. His gray-silver hair was brushed straight back from his tanned, toned face, and his voice had that distinctive California surfer dude accent. If asked in a court of law, I would not be able to answer no to the question, “Was the inspector Josh Meyers doing his Gavin Newsom impression?”

2) Yesterday while dining at Heidi’s of Gresham, I noticed that the menu boasts, “Family owned and operated since 1968.” This is the second time I’ve eaten here, and the clientele is of a certain era. There are my “peeps” and older. I would guess that if there is anyone dining here that was born after 1968, they are with at least their parents, if not their grandparents.

Coincidence?

We have been in Fairview for 6 months now and it kind of feels like we’ve been here longer, in a good way. Our most traveled route is a right out of the community, a half a mile east on Sandy Blvd to a traffic light, then right again taking us underneath of I-84. This takes us south into Fairview, Wood Village and Gresham for all our shopping and dining needs.

Ever since we’ve traveled that way there has been a homeless person living under I-84. We’ve never seen the individual, but their shopping cart, sleeping bag/blankets and a couple of handmade sign with bible verses on them have been there.

A couple of weeks ago when we passed under the Interstate all that stuff was gone. I figured the local authorities had cleared the person out or maybe he/she had just moved on. The very next day while reading the Portland newspaper, the Oregonian, I saw an article that said a body was found in an open space near the intersection of Halsey St and Fairview Ave, and foul play was suspected. Hey I recognize the corner, Fairview Ave/NE 223rd Ave is where we pass under I-84 and Halsey is the next light, maybe a 1/4 mile up the street.

Was this our missing homeless person?