RAPS Group Reports The RAPS Book Group will discuss A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki at its next meeting on Tuesday, May 21. Amazon describes this book as “a brilliant, unforgettable novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki – shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.” The meeting will be at Joan Shireman’s home, 13584 SE Snowfire Dr., Happy Valley. Contact Joan at joanshireman@gmail.com or 503-698-9951 to let her know that you are coming and to get directions. The Book Group meets at 1:30 pm on the third Tuesday of each month. New members are always welcome. --Joan Shireman The RAPS Bridge Group will meet (or has already met) on Tuesday, April 5, 2015. We meet regularly on the first Tuesday of each month. Given the timing of the monthly RAPS Sheet, let me inform you of upcoming bridge sessions: June 2 and July 7. We gather in the conference room of Friendly House’s Anderson Building. This building is on the north side of NW Savier Street, around the corner from the main entrance to Friendly House at 26th and Thurman. Playing begins at 1 pm and continues to about 4:30 pm. We are friendly and are always looking for new players. If you wish to join us, please contact Steve Brennan, 503-646-6297. My email address is the.steve.brennan@gmail.com. --Steve Brennan The RAPS Hiking Group hiked from the Rowena Crest Plateau to Tom McCall Point on April 10. We were fortunate that the trail was already open for the season and we did not have to hike the lower-level alternate. We welcomed Pati Sluys, a recent retiree from the School of Education. We hiked in two groups due to late afternoon commitments of some of the hikers. This was a wildflower hike and Tom Dieterich, Tom Hard and Larry Sawyer took advantage of close-up photography opportunities. All were aware of the fresh poison oak beside the trail and avoided it. Tom Dieterich compiled a partial list of 17 of the many flowers by their Latin names. The Friday, May 8 hike will be the Weldon Wagon Road, 5miles round trip with 1050 feet elevation gain. This is hike #158 in Sullivan’s 100 Oregon Hikes, 4th edition. This should also be a wildflower hike. Bring a sack lunch. The trailhead is in Washington across from Hood River, in the White Salmon River valley near Husum. Meet at the SE corner of the Gateway Transit Parking Garage at 9 am to carpool to the trailhead. Google the “Weldon Wagon Trail” to view descriptions and images of the hike. Confirm participation with Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or by email at larry_sawyer@comcast.net. (There is an underscore between “larry” and “sawyer” in that email address.) --Larry Sawyer The RAPS Writers Group is perhaps one of RAPS’ best-kept secrets. For about ten years, the group, never more than six members, has met once a month to share writings. We are looking for new members and a new facilitator. Group members simply bring to the group whatever they are writing, read it aloud, and talk about it. The members respond, discuss the topic, and ask questions (very much like a Book Group) and offer help or suggestions when requested. The small group has been successful and productive since its inception. It has been a rewarding experience, which we hope will continue. What have they written? For whom do they write? Two have published books, though publication is not a criterion. Stories, poems, memoirs for families and friends, topics of current interest, all have their place. Experimentation is always encouraged. The facilitator duties are light and include sending notices of monthly meetings and informally guiding the group discussion. If you have an interest in writing or knowing more about the group, please let me know (colinkeld@gmail.com) or give your name to Carissa in the RAPS Office.(raps@pdx.edu) --Colin Dunkeld 3
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