Portland

It took me about five minutes to fall in love with Portland. For one, there is a free light rail system downtown. And the general vibe I'm getting is a happy one. I got here around 5:30, and got situated. I walked around some downtown, ate dinner (pizza in a haunted restaurant), checked out the light rail system, and now am reading about things I might want to do tomorrow--maybe a walking tour at some point. I'm also doing laundry.

The internet connection is iffy right now, so more later. Suffice to say I had a great day--saw several waterfalls and Mt. Hood. Meanwhile on the Columbia River a fight is brewing over sea lions. Fisherman have complained for a long time sea lions eat salmon, and Native American tribes argue that the sea lions are taking away their salmon guaranteed under 19th century treaties. So there has been a plan to catch the sea lions and relocate some of them (there is an injunction preventing authorities from killing the sea lions). But six sea lions were shot over the weekend. I was at Bonneville Dam today but did not know any of this was going on. I think I saw a sea lion in the river while driving the other day--I thought it had to be my imagination, but maybe not. The AP article below calls sea lions "salmon -gobbling mammals". Well, I think one reason the salmon are an easy target is because of the fish ladders they have to navigate at the Bonneville Dam. Is this a problem we have created by tinkering with ecosystems? I really have no idea. Food chain in action, I suppose.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080505/ap_on_sc/sea_lions_shot