Better loud than dead.

I have had no scheduled activities today, other than dropping off and picking up Dutch. I'm flailing a bit. I haven't gotten anything done. Skipper and I went grocery shopping and pretended to go on a few trips. I've been READING A BOOK! It's lovely.

So I have the leisure time* to inform you all that no, fluorescent jackets are not required in Portland. My rain coat, actually, is black. However, the more time Cook and I spend in the world of "active transportation" (walking, biking, and even taking transit), the clearer it has become to us that pedestrians and bicyclists need to be as visible as possible, especially in the winter.** As we replace everyone's worn-out/outgrown raincoats and bags over time, we go for Really Bright Stuff. This makes our family outings look kind of garish. (Especially since Dutch's eccentric fashion choices often involve seriously clashing colors and patterns.) But you know, it's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything... but it could save your life.

I've been thinking a lot about pedestrian safety because there have been several pedestrian deaths in Portland recently. Dutch is also eager to walk by herself,*** so we've been talking a lot about how to be a pedestrian. This is a skill set**** I didn't learn until adulthood, and I think it's really important for kids to learn. We've been practicing. She walks ahead of me on the way to school, and I watch from 50 feet behind. She's very easy to see in her electric-lime-green jacket!

*Yes, TECHNICALLY I should probably be washing dishes, doing laundry, or tackling the drifts of dustballs.

** At least until we get rid of all these damn cars.

*** Which we're not going to let her do for years.

**** To the basic list, I've added more (all of which can be boiled down to "Assume all drivers are distracted AND completely ignorant of all traffic laws."):

1) Always make eye contact with drivers before trying to cross a street, to ensure that they've seen you.

2) When crossing at an intersection, ALWAYS look for cars turning into the street you're crossing.

3) When you're crossing multiple lanes in the same direction, don't assume that the drivers in the second lane are going to stop just because the drivers in the first lane did.

4) You have the right to cross at any corner (in Oregon), and drivers are supposed to stop for you. Almost no drivers obey this law, so don't assume they will, even if it's a marked crosswalk.