April 2000 Archives

Whenever Amy and I visit Kentucky, I always make sure to grab a copy of the local Lexington paper, the Herald Leader.

I don't do this for the news. I get that from my computer, at all hours of the day, from all over the world.

No, it's not for the news. It's for Chuck Culpepper, quite possibly the most entertaining sports writer I've ever read. He's a budding romance novelist watching a basketball game. And he's fiendishly scribbling his overwraught prose while he's watching. (Those last two sentences were inspired by him!)

Anyway, scoot on over to his archives at the Herald-Leader to see what I mean.

Considering how much I enjoy reading his column whenever we go to Kentucky (who needs the comics when you've got Chuck?) you'll understand why I fell out of my chair on Sunday, holding the Oregonian's sports page.

See, Chuck has moved out West.

Amy and I live in the country now, more or less. Our little town is the last place the busses from Portland stop before heading back into the city.

When we go out, we often take back roads. We drive by orchards, old barns, a pungent dairy, rusting sheds.

On Monday we rushed to Wilsonville to see "American Beauty." I can understand why everyone loves the movie so much. It's beautiful. No question about it.

But it's also terrible. We left, both of us in a bad mood, and wished we'd just spent more time driving.

Ricky's right. There is so much beauty in the world. And I guess what I realized on Monday is that I didn't have to go see American Beauty to find it.

I was looking closer before the film.

The sun is shining like the head of a newborn. It's 74 degrees out there. Anyone up for a game of ultimate?

I don't think I eat well enough. Every day, I feel like falling over at about 4pm. Without fail.

Amy and I went to the coast on Sunday afternoon with Mike and Ashley. One hour there, one hour walking on the beach, and one hour home.

So after two weeks of leave, I'm back in Portland. I'm married now, and living in Sherwood.

There's a lot to tell, but too much to put in one place at one time, so I'll just say that it was a beautiful two weeks. And without promising anything, I expect you'll hear more.