Portland, San Francisco

How long does it take to get a small tattoo? About as long as it takes to walk SE Hawthorne in Portland, Oregon between 39th and 43rd Avenues. Or about as long as it takes to have sex, if you're new at it and it's still an adventure.

Keith was born and in Portland but lived for a time in San Francisco near 27th and Noriega. It would be foggy in the Avenues where he lived; his best friend lived in Dolores Park where it was always sunny.

There are lots of little places for coffee or to stop and have a beer.

Lara's favorite poet is Herman Hesse. "He's amazing." She too was born and raised in Portland but has good friends in San Francisco and travels there at least twice a year. In January, driving north through the mountains from a trip south to The City, Lara and her mom encountered a snowstorm in which the whole world turned white. It was scary but they kept driving and made it to Portland safely.

Ice cream is big in Portland, as it is in San Francisco.

Somebody said that everyone's a poet in San Francisco. The same could be true in Portland.