Moving back to Portland gave me the opportunity to reengage on the ground of my ancestors from Sicily, Italy. My great grand-father on my mother’s side migrated from Sicily at the turn of the century. He pedaled produce through the streets of Portland with his horse and cart. My grand-father, continued the business in to a successful produce house in Portland’s “Produce Row”. I remember as a child going to the old brick produce warehouse with smells of burlap bags full of potatoes and ripening banana’s in the cold room. My favorite time was picking out our pumpkin at Halloween time. As a child, we were introduced to many fruits and vegetables that my friends had never heard of, yet alone, tasted. When my grandpa visited our house growing up, he usually brought a case of fruits or veggies that were on the verge of perishing. I thought it was normal for all banana’s to have big black spots on them!
During my first year of semi-retirement, I helped with harvest at my brother and sister-in-law’s lavender farm in Corbett, Oregon http://www.dancinglightlavender.com as well as my cousin’s vineyard in the Willamette Valley www.nemarnikivineyard.com. Several cousins helped to bottle the 2016 vintage and harvest several varietals of 2018 pinot noir grapes. I so enjoyed riding my bike to the Portland farmers markets to shop for fresh local produce and to see my brother and sister-in-law’s lavender products sold.
Embracing Gray 