coffeeneuring challenge 2015:8 -- Koken Market

I needed a bicycle ride to help me handle a depressive phase today, so I forced myself into clothes and outside this afternoon for a little ride around the neighborhood. With two weeks left to Coffeenuer, I decided to add to my slate of rides by stopping for coffee or whatever else I could find at my local mom-and-pop store, Koken Market (southeast corner of NE Dekum and MLK, Portland).

 

The store has gone through several incarnations in the last decade; this latest is an example of knowing one's market. The shelves are lined with fifty varieties of mostly cheap wine and the coolers are all filled with cheap beer (except for the one of the far right which has pop and juice).

Seeing that the coffee choice was pretty dim -- non-functional, in fact, as the machine was not even hooked up ("we're going to sell it," the nice lady told me, "because everyone wants beer." Right. Got it) -- I opted for a bottle of Jarrito's (Mexican pop) and a bag of chips to eat at the park. Not coffee, not hot; I know, maybe not a qualifier, but this ride was about riding for its own sake and I'm not concerned if it's on the edge. Plus, riding over to the park and seeing how last night's windstorm blew most of the petals off the roses, settling on a bench and enjoying my snack was enough. Fall has come to the rose garden, and to Portland. That means the multicolor of summer is going away, the deciduous trees are losing their red-gold leaves, and the only color left through the winter will be evergreen.

I took a loop around the back of the park, rode over to Safeway and picked up a few things before Shabbat.

Then I rose slowly home, glad to have gotten outside if only for an hour or so. The big rain is scheduled to come tonight and all day tomorrow, so I'm glad I rode when I did. Total around six miles.
Time to settle in for a quiet Shabbat at home with my sweetie and the World Series.  Happy Friday, Shabbat Shalom, and of course happy riding!
(and #letsgomets)

Autumn sky, NE Dean

(Below: the last leaves from my favorite trees on Dean, fallen)