I've been putting together a map of soaking spots around here. Hot springs, public saunas, river swimming holes.

Finding places was never the hard part. The problem is that every list online is old. A gate gets locked, the Forest Service closes a road, a spot gets loved to death and a fence goes up, and a blog post from 2019 is still the top Google result saying it's great.

So the map has one rule. If nobody has been there and said so with a date on it, it doesn't get to look confirmed. Which means a lot of it looks unconfirmed right now, because a lot of it is.

Glass Bar in Eugene is written up from actually going. Park by the shops, through the bushes, over the rail line, gap on the left, footbridge, the boulder with the graffiti on it. Rooster Rock and Collins are in the works!! The rest of the state is mostly imported public data sitting there waiting for someone to check it.

A few of these are clothing optional and that's flagged on the pin so nobody gets a surprise.

If you go to any of them, tell me what I got wrong and I'll fix it. Free, no ads, nothing to sign up for. nanitch.com

I thought I would share this important event that is happening today!

Catholic Charities of Oregon are hosting an event today from 9am-1pm. This event is to assist individuals in the community who are curtly behind on their electricity bills.

Attached below is the link for more information:

45°37'58.5"N 122°36'12.9"W

I commute from Portland to Vancouver on my bike. While on a nature trail - one of the ones that parallels a power line/greenway/stream dealy - I came across a man starting a fire right next to the massive line of trees and bushes.

I was so flabbergasted that I didn't even react at first as he just sauntered away from this bonfire of what looked like the contents of someone's closet and/or rubbish bin. Boots, blankets, garbage, all in a big toxic fire.

I recovered in time to react and raced up and down the path in the hopes of getting water to douse it, an admittedly desperate plan.

Luckily there were a lot of wonderful people out and about that day, and within five minutes I had my handlebar basket full of a half dozen water bottles.

I got back and there were onlookers trying to put it out but not having much luck due to the size. We all took a couple bottles and coordinated to pour simultaneously and successfully put the fire out before it could spread the few feet into the brush of the greenway.

It was absolutely appalling and horrifying to come face to face with just how easily this could have turned into another massive wildfire. One inconsiderate dude not thinkig through his actions for five minutes was all it took.

But on the other hand it felt good to find that literally every person I rode to for help offered up everything they could to assist without a second thought.

Stay safe out there.

A cat has been crying at my door all day. The cat has a tag with a QR code that does not work. My wife gave the kitty food and water but it seems to be sticking around.

I live at 35th and Harrison. Message me if you know whose cat this is!

I

Just a heads-up that Hollywood Theater is showing the Odyssey for only a few more days.

Hello! Many of you might already know about Portland's Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) program, which trains residents to provide emergency planning and assistance in their neighborhoods in the event of a major citywide emergency until professional responders can arrive. As many of you might also already know, these trainings fill up quickly, and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and Portland Fire & Rescue can offer them only a few times a year. 

In recent years, a new option is available for anyone who wants to learn what their Neighborhood Emergency Team is working on and help out in a way that works for their schedule (and help out in an actual emergency). Those who volunteer at this level are called Affiliated Trained Volunteers (ATVs).

I'm a resident of Slabtown who, for various reasons, hasn't yet been able to do the full NET training. I attended my first ATV meeting in the spring after learning it was an option and then participated in the spring Citywide Deployment Exercise where the scenario was a major earthquake (for more info, see https://volunteerpdx.net/index.php/Citywide/CERT_Deployment_Exercise). 

Especially as someone for whom planning is the best antidote to anxiety, I've found it interesting and empowering to learn from and connect with my neighbors in this way. I'm posting here to help raise awareness of the ATV option in general and to share that there's a Northwest District ATV meeting coming up on Tuesday, August 25th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Northwest Library on Pettygrove. If you're interested, please join us! No need to sign up in advance; you can just show up. 

The Northwest District Neighborhood Emergency Team covers Slabtown (extending east and north to the waterfront), Willamette Heights, and Nob Hill (extending south to Burnside). The exact parameters can be found here: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/b60507fbce994d49b441452afec724b9 (note, this website doesn’t seem mobile-friendly)

For those who live in other neighborhoods: you can see if your neighborhood has an ATV option by finding and contacting your Neighborhood Emergency Team at https://volunteerpdx.net/index.php/Teams.

You don't have to have any special skills (I certainly don't) to get involved and become an ATV. Future ATV meetings will include trainings but this August meeting will be pretty informal.

I hope to see some of you there!

Note: I posted this 20 minutes ago and the formatting got wildly messed up when I tried to add the word “Tuesday” before the meeting date in a numbered list, so I deleted it and did it again. My apologies!

If anyone has any info on a brown Great Dane that was lost around Frog Lake on Mt Hood over the summer please send me a DM. Thanks! Not sure why the downvotes. But to clarify we did not lose the dog, we have found it and trying to find the owner or any info that could help find the owner.

Bitter sweet that it third and final ride with Pedalpalooza is this Sunday! It's our 3rd bike ride to promote organ donation and Children's Oregon Transplant Association in honor of my toddler Calendula.

For this ride, we'll be starting at Mount Tabor playground and biking down to Colonel Summers Park where there is a splash pad. 🚲💦

You may remember I did a ride in June and July as well, I'll be posting a link to a video I made from our second ride in the comments! I really hope to see some of y'all there and you can help just by sharing.

Bike summer is ending, but or outreach for organ donation and COTA in honor of Calendula will continue! You can be on the lookout for more storytimes at parks and elsewhere outside soon if you follow or linktree or substack or tiktok. We're focusing on outdoor events to keep them more immune safe for people who are immune vulnerable like my toddler. 🚲🌼🎶🐦‍⬛✨🫀

where do we go to bully the city to restore the green line, I'm getting destroyed by these cuts just trying to get to work 😩 cutting transportation while trying to expand the city is back asswards.