RAPS-Sheet-2018-November

RAPS Group Reports Book Group THE RAPS BOOK GROUP met on October 16 at the home of Phyllis Leonard to discuss Words Without Music by Philip Glass. The book is a memoir by an accomplished musician, focused on recollections of his career. Many of us, to be honest, were a bit in over our heads, not knowing enough about modern music to fully appreciate the ideas being presented. The picture of the struggles of a young artist in New York City were to some extent familiar, the world travels interesting, and the amount of musical education that preceded composition astounding. Many of us advanced our education with this book. On Monday, November 12, we will meet at the home of Eileen and Steve Brennan to discuss Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. It is a beautiful book, described as a magnificent biography. Note that this meeting is on a different day and week than our regular meeting time, due to the proximity of the regular date to Thanksgiving. Eileen’s address is 5945 SW 152nd Avenue in Beaverton. Telephone her at 503-646-6297 or email her at brennane@pdx.edu to let her know whether you can be there. On December 18 we will meet at the home of Joan Shireman. We will discuss The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church. The book is an exploration of the life of the heroine between the 1940s and the 1970s, whose career aspirations are subverted, and who later finds more freedom in another era. It is said to be a captivating novel and had excellent reviews. The book group meets at 1:30 pm on the first Tuesday of every month, with the exception of this coming November, and new members are always welcome. —Joan Shireman Bridge Group THE RAPS BRIDGE GROUPmembers are very friendly and are always looking for new players. We meet in the afternoon on the first Tuesday of each month. We begin play at 12:15 pm. We try to finish up by 4 pm. In the current academic year we are meeting in 258 Smith Memorial Student Union, on the second floor. Please mark your calendars for the following fall and winter meetings: November 6, December 4, January 8 (note second Tuesday due to the holiday), February 5, and March 5, all in 258 SMSU. I will send out the reminder email notice about one week prior to each date we play. If you wish to join us, please contact Steve Brennan, 503-646-6297. My email address is the.steve.brennan@gmail.com. —Steve Brennan Hiking Group THE RAPS HIKING GROUP will meet on Tuesday, November 27, to hike 3.5 miles of the Rock Creek Regional Trail from the Kaiser Woods Natural Area to Bethany Lake Park. This portion of the trail runs along Springville Creek and a powerline corridor. The trail passes through meadows and forested and wetlands areas, and has a variety of parks along the way. The part of the trail our hike will cover is almost completely paved, has modest elevation changes, and includes natural areas with wildlife viewing available. The area is populated with woodland songbirds, and hawks, osprey, and waterfowl can be seen at Bethany Lake Park at the western end of the trail. We will meet at 9:30 am at the parking lot of Bethany Village Shopping Center, at 15320 NW Central Drive, Portland. We will need to spot cars at the end of the trail at the Bethany Lake Park parking lot at 5061 NW 185th Ave, Portland, so we can return to Bethany Village for lunch at Bethany’s Table restaurant. For more information regarding the Rock Creek Trail, please see the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation website: http://www.thprd.org/parks-and-trails/rock-creek-trail If you plan to hike in November, please contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. For more details about this hike or future hiking plans in 2019, please consult the RAPS hikers’ website: https://www.pdx.edu/raps/RAPS-Hikers —Larry Sawyer 3 —Photograph by Larry Sawyer Pintail Pond wetland area in the Jackson Bottom Nature Preserve, hiked in September.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz