January 17, 2022: A Good Morning's Work -

I really like kayaking – I’ve asked for a kayak rental adventure to celebrate my birthday, or Mother’s Day, on more than one occasion – but I have never considered that there was any connection between kayaking and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But what do I know of MLK’s hobbies, real or aspirational? Exactl - nothing. Still, I just never thought there was a connection there.

I mention this because my Inbox was full of messages from worthy organizations this morning, all exhorting me to donate money, or perform some honorable activity, in honor of MLK Day. My eyes got all squinty and I said NO, I am Drawing the Line Right Here, when I saw a message from the kayak rental place. No, I said. Do not hector me today! You guys stick to your lane.

This is just me and my sense of the ridiculous.

Because I may have been stretching it, too. I went out with SOLVE (and a pal, hooray!) this morning, to pick up litter in what was billed as an MLK Day effort, and I was laughing at myself just a little. It’s not kayaking, but it felt pretty white liberal, not a major case of Speaking Truth to Power, to wander the streets with a bucket and a little grabber doohickey, picking up Starbucks cups and abandoned surgical masks.  

But let’s not let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good, right?

And it’s so satisfying to be part of a group of 150 people (Outside! Blocks apart! COVID safe!), and to end up back in the parking lot where we all donned our fluorescent vests, and to see the bags of garbage we collected. And then it’s nice to notice, on the way home, how clean East Burnside is, from the river all the way to about Twelfth Avenue, which was our territory today.

Yes, there is a constant temptation to go from picking up litter to Rage Against Humans - the city, or the mayor, or smokers, or fast food fans, or dog owners who don’t pick up, or just general citizen slobs. But I always feel that if I volunteer and end up in a Rage, I’ve spoiled a chance to feel the satisfaction of a good morning’s work well done. So I try to resist the pull of disgruntlement.  

Along those lines, I have, since the George Floyd racial justice protests and some of the national reporting about same, become a crusader against those who would portray Portland as a dangerous and destroyed city. Yes, yes, I’m tired of the graffiti and I am very worried about the homeless, but to those of you who say, “Oh, I don’t go DOWNTOWN any more!I” I want to report that we found only one discarded needle. Ten face masks. And mostly just regular old litter, plastic, paper, wrappers - not crime scene detritus.

Anyway, you can now tell me that the connection between trash cleanup and Dr. King is fine, that an effort to promote community, or increase environmental justice for all was in the right spirit. And upon reflection, I think I was too quick with my kayak mockery. Remember that flotilla of folks who kayaked out to Joe Manchin’s yacht, and tried to get him to rethink his opposition to voting rights and equity? Those were social justice kayakers! They really did try to speak truth to power, and I wish I could have gone with them.