Portland is a very small town, Part 589

We took Rachel to Shabbat on the Plaza tonight, the last of the year. It was a special celebration because Pierce, the synagogue's facilities maintenance manager, is retiring after...wait for it...40 years of working for Congregation Beth Israel. In honor of his retirement, the synagogue held a barbecue of hot dogs, fruit, potato salad and cookies.

While I was standing in line for the food, I noticed the guy in front of me was assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Silver, who had given a lecture yesterday (Thursday) at Willamette on the Dreyfus case. I attended it and was mesmerized -- I finally have a much clearer understanding of what the case was about, its significance, etc. I re-introduced myself and we got into a discussion, on line, about the case and its application to modern legal issues. Ron was with a friend of his, an engineer, who happens to be one of the main spokesmen for the Somali community in Portland; I told him I was a board member of the Oregon Area Jewish Committee, got his card, and am now thinking it would be great to have him speak at one of the OAJC's "lunch and lecture" events (which I can never attend because I'm in Salem during the day, but oh well). I reminded Ron that I'm changing Willamette Lawyer to be much more focused on policy issues, and he warmed my heart when he said, "yeah, one of my law clerks was telling me about that." So the word is, indeed, getting out!

We also ran into our friends Melissa and Steve Peterman; Melissa is a board member of the Oregon Ballet Theater and accompanies me to the ballet; we recently stayed at their house in Hood River a couple of weekends back. Their kids, Natalie and Jeremy, are just old enough to stay by themselves at home -- which means they can babysit Rachel while all four of us go out to dinner sometime, yay! -- and we talked about getting together after Labor Day. It really was a lovely evening.

And to cap it off, I curled up on Rachel's bed while she snuggled in Drew's lap and we both listened to him read "Rikki Tikki Tavi." It was a welcome break from all the damn fairy stories she makes us read, and a reminder that a really well-written children's story still has staying power -- even after 100+ years.