Sauvie island was the place to get pumpkins for Halloween when I was a wee sprout. My parent's rule was, you could have any pumpkin you wanted, just as long as you could bring it back to the car yourself. I found you could snag a really huge pumpkin — just as long as it was round enough to roll — but then there was always the lifting it into the back of the car.

The last time I was at Sauvie island I was biking with my girlfriend. As we were finishing our loop of the island we saw a family sneaking across a field to our left, taking a few heads of cabbage or lettuce. We looked at each other and were silent — just the whisper of our tires on the blacktop. Another family, but sadly, much different memories.