Portland, Euglena has landed

I'm happy to be here.

I landed here yesterday from EUG
via a zip car driven by my PDX host.

Most travel since then has been -
& will continue to be - via bicycle.
MUCH more about that to come.


We set up laptop & projector at OpenSourcery,
the venue for my tipping point presentation
(thanks to OS for their hospitality)
then offered my presentation to 7 people.
(We seem to have failed to get the word out sufficiently.
We're working on a remedy for that ... details to follow ...
We're confident that next week, we'll have a larger crowd ... ).

The presentation went reasonably well,
though I have a few ideas about
how I'll do it differently next Friday.

Afterwards, we went to Roots Brewery for a pitcher of beer,
then rode to a friend's house on Clinton street - a bike boulevard
- where we sat on his porch drinking lemonade.

The activity on the street
was substantial at night.
A good vibe was palpable.

Most impressive is that between 8 pm & midnight,
bicycles take over Portland streets.
On a bike boulevard, we counted far more bicycles
- on the order of dozens - than cars.

This morning I spent time in the backyard,
on a wooden deck & down under the trees.
I did a light workout with push ups & pulls (using tree limbs).

I'm going to enjoy Portland.
Have I mentioned that
it's an awesome town?

More to come ...
_____________

Later in the day: here's more:

Ate a large meal this afternoon,
followed shortly thereafter by
a long bike ride on bike boulevards.

Somehow, I wound up at Roots brewery.

While sipping seasonal ale (Kolsch),
I read several more chapters in Fred Pearce's
With Speed & Violence: Why Scientists
Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change
which relates directly to my tipping point lecture.
I'm about 75% through the book now.

IMO, it should be required reading.
(Think of it as part of an Earth manual.)

It is perhaps best read w/ beer,
because the stories that Pearce serves up
about climate through geological time, including now,
are very, very sobering. The beer balances its intensity.

He discusses Snowball Earth (last one 600 mya); PETM as Earth's most serious methane fart (from clathrate guns); the megafires of Borneo; rapid melting of huge areas of permafrost in Siberia & Alaska (a "sleeping giant"); the potential for increased droughts & tipping points from forests to deserts ... & lots of other ... um, topics that will likely cause any rational person to be concerned about climate change, especially its probable scale, speed & severity ...