One man’s quest for his past leads him to the Portland of today.

Story and photos by Mira Ptacin, Summerguide 2004

It’s noon on Wednesday, the time when Subarus zip up and down Forest Avenue for lunch break, when Portland’s crows uniformly sweep over the city and land in clumps in the trees. But here in Deering Oaks Park, a burly man, flannel clad, stands still in the muddy grass. Carefully, he leans down and picks up a broken tree branch. He shakes the dark bangs out of his face and holds the branch to the sky.

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