Clare Consultation, LLCPosted on December 24, 2011 by Mary Clare
Christmas Eve Roses from Art
Art Garcia holds one of many distinctions as Voice #2 in 100 VOICES — AMERICANS TALK ABOUT CHANGE. Today I got a text message: “Check your front porch.” Then a second message followed “: )” — Both were from Art. I wasn’t home at the time, so I called David, my world’s best ever next door neighbor and asked if he’d go see what Art had left. “It’s flowers,” David said…. Read More
Posted on December 18, 2011 by Mary Clare
EX:Change Gift Idea — 100 VOICES
Listen to the voices of your neighbors. One hundred voices from across the U.S. All talking about change. All speaking their dreams. Give the book to yourself, to friends or family. Join us in the EX:Change as it continues to offer its invitation to all of us — Listen to each other. See what is there in those with whom you think you have nothing in common. See what is there in… Read More
Posted on December 3, 2011 by Mary Clare
Marsha and Nancy — How We Occupy Change
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the idea of having guest bloggers write to the original three questions of EX:Change and the 100 Voices. (EX:C blog, “These Questions Belong to You Now,” 10-22-2011) When you say the word change what do you mean? Alongside change, what is important to have remain the same? What would be concrete signs that positive change was occurring? Then I got email from Marsha Cuyjet – voice #48…. Read More
Posted on November 27, 2011 by Mary Clare
“In casual conversation, how long does it take before someone starts complaining?”
I had Thanksgiving Dinner at the home of a Nigerian-American family. My brother, Preston(since the dawn of our friendship we’ve been pretty sure we are twins separated at birth) and his wife, Michelle and their 5-year-old daughter, Rachel had invited me along on their Thanksgiving plans. Preston, the host couple and three more guests share the fact of long ancestries, birth, childhood and young adulthood in Nigeria. Although they did not meet… Read More
Posted on November 20, 2011 by Mary Clare
Onward
Several years ago I became aware of a newly formed nonprofit organization called Onward Oregon http://onwardoregon.org/. Shortly after learning of the organization, I received an e-mail inviting me to be on their mailing list. In that introductory email, following the words “What We Believe” came this: “We inherit the good that flowed from the people who came before us and the societies they created and will continue building on that foundation. The… Read More
Posted on November 7, 2011 by Mary Clare
Standard Time
I just got on the bus. It’s Sunday afternoon. As I enter, I step carefully around two people rummaging the floor; an older woman with “a serious disability, so I can’t stand up,” and a short balding man. Both are bent over and reaching to pick up the contents of a spilled purse. The large black handbag belongs to the young mom who sits at the front of the bus with an… Read More
Posted on October 29, 2011 by Mary Clare
Bloke – AKA Barber Babes Redux
Halloween. Perfect. A day when we let ourselves be a bit less in denial of the fact things both are and aren’t as they appear. Change is change is change. This is the storefront I wrote about in May. My new friend Justin is the botanical artist who recently took over the space 6 months after the Barber Babes had to call it quits. Over the past few years Justin has followed… Read More
Posted on October 16, 2011 by Mary Clare
A Squirrel Story
Wednesday morning, October 5, I was filling time before my mom arrived at the Portland airport. She was on a nonstop from ATL that had left at 3 a.m. Pacific Time. She turned 77 in September. That’s a long way on little sleep. She’s my hero! The real truth of the matter is, I had been a bit uber–intense (who me?) with getting the house clean and adorable enough for my mom… Read More
Posted on August 14, 2011 by Mary Clare
The Streets of London and a Bridge in Portland, OR
There are weeks when I think, “I have no idea what to write in this week’s blog.” Really. Lots of them. Then, without fail, events turn. They may be close in like with bus rides, or widespread like weather, or painful like the death of a dear one. They can also seem to have nothing to do with one another, and then, out of the nowhere of random neuron firings, I see… Read More
Posted on June 26, 2011 by Mary Clare
Common Courtesy
It’s sunny in Portland OR and already in the 60’s at 12:24 p.m. on Saturday. People are out everywhere and I’m walking west, nearing the center of the Steel Bridge, one of the ten bridges spanning the Willamette River and operated by the Port of Portland. The water level is very high – highest since the flood of 1996. As I walk onto the Steel Bridge, I’m guessing the bridge operators are… Read More