poopy filling and the midnight hike (sounds like one of those horrid, modern children's books)

i spent the afternoon babying a poppyseed* roll/loaf to perfection, then packed a sunny afternoon picnic. however, by the time logistics were worked out and certain husbands were convinced that spending the ENTIRE day in the apt. was not the most desirable option, the sun was setting and the temp was down from 60 to 45 degrees.

we set off in spite of it all, and after much transit confusion (broken ticket machines, an extra train, and waving a friend onto an almost-moving train) our party was together on one train. we headed up to the zoo station, jumped off the MAX, rode the elevator 200ft. up to ground level, and began our hike. we hiked up the road and started up a long hillside of stairs. now, my lung capacity (also my stomach and bladder capacities, but that's a more private issue) is becoming increasingly cramped, due to a 16-18 inch long infant that now occupies part of my chest cavity, in addition to ALL of my abdominal cavities. consequently, 150 or so stairs leaves me a bit winded, to say the least. we continued up the hill and around the city water reservoir, then began down the other side in the dwindling light, towards NW portland and the cathedral's 5:30pm mass. or so we thought...

at this point we took a break to wolf down our picnic just in time to meet the 1-hour fast requirement for the mass we *were* going to. we trotted down the hill "towards" burnside street, pointing out the gloomy magnolia trees for which the trail was named. after some minutes, robin spotted a trail-side map and between two dying cell phones we had just enough light to see that we were, indeed, headed towards burnside... a mere 3 miles or so ahead. somehow the zoo is MUCH further (or do i mean farther) from the rose garden than we thought. whoops.

we voted to retrace our steps and just take the MAX down the hill instead. luckily, there's a 9pm mass at the local catholic university. so in the now-complete darkness we hiked back up the road, back up magnolia trail, past the reservoir, down the billion steps to the zoo, down 200ft in the elevator, down the hill on the MAX, to our lovely home for a much-needed cup of tea and some poppyseed bread. nine-o'-clock mass: here we come.

*BTW, googling "homemade poopy filling" is an interesting, but not-very-enlightening experience if your true purpose is making poppy filling.