Bertie Russell Wooster Koehler left us on Saturday, March 28, 2026. He was 11 years, 3 months, and 14 days old.

Bertie asked Sherri to take him home from an auto repair shop where she used to take her vehicles for maintenance in North Portland. He was 6 months old and his owner wasn’t able to care for his puppy. Bertie, who was first known as “Mack”, had been brought to the shop as one of the mechanics was considering buying him from his first owner, who also worked at the shop.

Bertie had other plans. He persisted in running to Sherri in the waiting room and wriggling under her legs, shaking. He was very friendly, but also very clearly under a lot of stress.

His owner, observing his puppy coming to Sherri for the 6 or 7th time, commented, “You and your wife really love animals, right? Would you be interested in a puppy?”

This is how Sherri came home from an oil change, practically on her wife’s birthday, with a 6 month old English bulldog puppy who needed three surgeries right away! Bertie, like most brachiocephalic dogs had an overgrown soft palate, partially blocking his airway and his nares (part of the nose) were also over developed. He also was cryptorchid, which requires surgical intervention for the health and safety of the animal.

After addressing his health issues, Bertie did not have another health issue until the last year of his life. He developed arthritis that caused him weakness and shaking, a ramp and a gentle assist to his hips for stairs or getting onto the sofa or our bed helped him a lot. He even enjoyed a week+ camping trip to California this past October!

Bertie’s last day was, for him, a perfect day. We all got up early for an easy ramble at a new, creekside park, on a sunny spring day. Bertie was so excited to be headed out for an adventure that he clambered up into the camper van without the need for assistance! Once his bed, blanket, and bolster were set up, he hopped onto his bed, ready to be secured for the ride. He then barked happily for nearly 10 minutes when we got underway.

We had just arrived at the park when Bertie appeared to have a massive stroke. Sherri was able to get out of her seat and hold him while he passed. Both she and Christie were with him for his last moments.

Bertie had been a little shakier for the 6 weeks prior. We had found an anti-inflammatory medication that was working well for him and he was feeling good, full of sass and belligerence. His last night was spent head-butting moths, playing with his kitty, and keeping Sherri company in her studio.

While it was the best possible day for Bertie, both Sherri and Christie are in shock and grieving. Sherri especially is feeling this loss, Bertie having been her companion for yoga classes, art workshops, appointments, and errands for over 10 years and 9 months.

When in doubt,
Wear faux leopard.

When in doubt,
Err on the side of generosity.

When in doubt,
Greet everyone as you would the Buddha.

When in doubt,
Collect blessings from those who own nothing.

When in doubt,
Absorb biographies to avoid life’s major mistakes.

When in doubt,
Make life’s major mistakes.

When in doubt,
Pay attention to the vendor shouting ‘Diooooos,’
Even when you find out he was only shouting, ‘Gaaaaas.’

When in doubt,
Carry a handkerchief and a fan.

When in doubt,
Thank everyone. Twice.

When in doubt,
Heed the clouds.

When in doubt,
Sleep on it.

When in doubt,
Treat all sentient and insentient beings as kin.

When in doubt,
Forgive us our myopia
As we forgive those who are myopic against us.

When in doubt,
Unreel your grief to a tree.

When in doubt,
Remember this.
We are all on a
Caucus-race.

There is no start.
No finish.
Everyone wins.

Hear me read When in Doubt on YouTube or listen to Padraig Ò Tuama read and give analysis for this poem on Poetry Unbound.

In this California valley, ice on a puddle
is a novelty for children
who stand awkward in their jackets
waiting for the school bus.
They lift off thin slabs
to hold up in the early light
like pieces of stained glass.
They run around,
throw them at each other,
lick them, laughing as their pink tongues stick
to the cold, their breath fogging
the morning gray.

          Between the Sierras
in the distance and a faint film
of clouds, the sun rises
red like the gills of a salmon.
From your porch, watching the kids,
you love this morning more
than any you remember. You hear
the bus rumbling down the road
like the future, hear the squealing
voices, feel your own blood warm
in your body as the kids sing
like winter herons, Ice, ice, ice.

Hear me read Ice on YouTube.

A Valley Like This
by William Stafford

Sometimes you look at an empty valley like this,
and suddenly the air is filled with snow.
That is the way the whole world happened—
there was nothing, and then…

But maybe some time you will look out and even
the mountains are gone, the world become nothing
again. What can a person do to help
bring back the world?

We have to watch it and then look at each other.
Together we hold it close and carefully
save it, like a bubble that can disappear
if we don’t watch out.

Please think about this as you go on. Breathe on the world.
Hold out your hands to it. When mornings and evenings
roll along, watch how they open and close, how they
invite you to the long party that your life is.

This poem is part of a series commissioned by the US Forest Service in 1993 for a series of plaques along a 49-mile stretch of the Methow River between Washington Pass and the confluence with the Columbia River. You can read more about the project at the Methow Conservancy.

What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade
by Brad Aaron Modlin

Mrs. Nelson explained how to stand still and listen
to the wind, how to find meaning in pumping gas,

how peeling potatoes can be a form of prayer. She took 
questions on how not to feel lost in the dark.

After lunch she distributed worksheets
that covered ways to remember your grandfather’s

voice. Then the class discussed falling asleep
without feeling you had forgotten to do something else—

something important—and how to believe
the house you wake in is your home. This prompted

Mrs. Nelson to draw a chalkboard diagram detailing
how to chant the Psalms during cigarette breaks,

and how not to squirm for sound when your own thoughts
are all you hear; also, that you have enough.

The English lesson was that I am
is a complete sentence.

And just before the afternoon bell, she made the math equation look easy.
The one that proves that hundreds of questions,

and feeling cold, and all those nights spent looking
for whatever it was you lost, and one person

add up to something.

High recommendation to contact the Rosewood Family Center if you qualify. They have 2 offices but it’s believed that the Gateway office is where the vaccine clinic is.

phone number 5 0 3 – 7 7 2 – 4 3 3 5
Clinic: 135 NE 102nd

Some folks have had a good experience using the website for OHSU. Appointments come up on the website at 9am Mondays and Thursdays; just keep refreshing: https://www.ohsu.edu/health/covid-19-vaccines-information-and-appointments#section-1319536

Safeway: some folks are having good luck selecting pharmacies in Salem
https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt

No one has tried yet, but we did see that Costco pharmacies (https://www.costco.com/covid-vaccine.html) and Walgreens pharmacies (https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19) are worth trying.