Historic Hawthorne walk

After a morning meditation and chanting session, Tom, abdul_hadi and I wandered off to walk from Rookhaven to Hawthorne. abdul_hadi wanted to sell some books at Mecca, and Tom wanted to buy some of the most amazing lotion that we found at Aveda. The lotion is called Aveda's Caribbean Therapy Creme. This is an Oh My God creme that feels soft for hours without feeling oily. And the smell is not overpowering which always gets good reviews from me!

So we wandered over, trekking through beautiful South East. Here is a wall painting that we found at the Yoga Union building off of 50th.



We had Tomato Bisque at Oasis and waiting for Thomas to all of his hairs cut. (As opposed to just one or two) and commented on the change that has been happening over Hawthorne in general. Hawthorne, for those who do not live here, is a bohemian mecca. It used to be lined with stores like "Think Good Thoughts" and Blue Butterfly, Coffee People and of course Tom and Jerry's before they were bought by Hagan Daaz. Now, it has been enveloped by stores like American Apparel, Aveda, and so forth. The new construction is mostly upper end stores that have driven out a lot of the bohemian style stores and people to move to other areas. I really miss the old Hawthorne. I used to spend my high school and college years bussing it all over Portland with my friends, checking out Powell's books, Escape to New York Pizza and others. I would buy bead necklaces at the shops on Hawthorne, French berets from Saturday Mark from Ken (Redman?)... the list goes on.

Now, I have to say, that there is a cost to Bohemia. Like, for example, there is a high level of drug related crime and homelessness in that district. People come through, and poo in the yards of the people in the neighborhood. One friend of mine told me that her basement was frequently broken into by homeless people so they could sleep down there. It reminds me of the saying from the musical Rent, "this is Calcutta, Bohemia is dead." Only instead of Calcutta, we have some trendy shopping district coming in using the Hawthorne kitchiness and then removing what drew people there to begin with.

I like high class like the next woman, but I also like the place where I get to let my hair down. Where does that happen now? Hawthorne, where have you gone? Leave a forwarding address so we can come visit you in your new home...