“So, for lunch tomorrow, I was thinking we could go to Din Tai Fung,” our friend Dan said casually as he drove us away from downtown Portland.
This was in February, before things got crazy. Before fear and anxiety threatened to vanquish calm and reason. Before everything was turned upside-down by the novel coronavirus pandemic. I like to remember that period of time. Concentrating on it makes me calmer.
Read MoreThe fear of coronavirus was palpable in Portland, Oregon.
Friends told us that the dim sum place where we took turns nabbing bite-sized wonders was normally twice as full. Famed Taiwanese dumpling restaurant Din Tai Fung didn’t have a wait. Even the Portland Japanese Garden had ample parking on a Sunday.
Much though I dislike crowds, this was thoroughly disheartening. Frankly, my bigger concern was catching a stupid cold from someone coughing near me on the plane. When I admitted as much to our friend Carol, she said that she swears by elderberry syrup to boost resistance.
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