Lee and I revisited our child hood neigborhood yesterday . We lived .in a
small suburb of Portland Oregon called Multnomah . Mutnomah is a native American
Name . at one time very near by a tribe called the ilkak'mana lived and
prospered in the area that is now Portland. One of the Chiefs of this tribe was
named Multnomah.
Multnomah is a popular name in the area . Portland is in MUltnomah county
and the grade school I attended was also called Multnomah Grade school . Apart
from His name being used so frequently there is very little information that can
be found about the Chief .
Here is an interesting article I ran into on the Net for all who may be
intersted :
http://pdx.edu/magazine/news/chasing-the-multnomah-myth
I spent several years in Multnomah . From Kindergarten to well past High
School . We lived at first at 7403 sw 32 in a very small two bedroom house ,
later my father would purchase a home in Northeast Portland , and have it moved
to the vacant lot next door and we would continue living at 7415 sw 32nd.
For the most part my stay in Multnomah went by unoticed . no statues , no
buildings or counties named after me ...my tenure was not the stuff of legends
or myths , with the possible exception of the Great Girdle raid ;
http://snapshotsandmusings.blogspot.com/
But for me this was the place where I grew up . From here I learned and was
inspired in in ways I know and in many ways I do not know or fully understand
.
Here I went to school , learned to read and write , learned the joy of
exploration wether in the forest next door , or in the aisles of the local
Library. Here I learned about friendships and met a life long friend . Here we
played games of cowboys and Indians games of war and conquest.
I earned my Cub scout merit badges here . Learned to slide into a base ,
catch a ground ball , and bunt.
It was here I came home giddy from my first kiss . Went to my first dance ,
parked my first car . It was in the house at 7415 that I first murmured "I Love
you " and felt the pain of love lost .
I learned the upside and downside of hard work .
IN the basement we took shelter from the Columbus day storm and stocked
the place with food in case of nuclear war .
In my room I listened to Simon and Garfunkle and the beach boys ...hid
playboy magazines , and did my homework.
Here I felt the sting of the belt on my backside , and the warm embrace of
my fathers strong arms ...
Here I showered and shaved one day and went off to Peace Lutheran Church
and my Bride.
And it was here that I saw my father for the last time a few hours before
He passed away.

I grew up here ...in a little place called Multnomah in a City named
Portland in a county Named Multnomah. In the State of Oregon , In the United
States , in the Northern Hemisphere on a Planet racing through the cosmos .

This was the center of my world .

It was a quick trip through the neighborhood ...I captured some photos of
this place that has captured my heart ...its changed some and stayed the same
some ....it is embraced and confined and conformed to my memory ....It was a
good day .