Because summer is so crazy busy and the monsoon season has managed to cancel many of the outdoor music offerings here in town, the first Sunset Concert Series I managed to make it to was the final one of the summer. Last night's free concert on the Western Prom featured the soothing sounds of Will Gattis . He's got a wonderful voice and his fingers danced across the keyboard.

Meanwhile, I let my own fingers dance across the farmers' market beans and carrots I brought along for our picnic. These were quite the hit with our multi-generational group. And I even managed to get normally veggie adverse photographer extraordinaire Tim Greenway to try one of the yummy beans. (I'll pretend I didn't see his pre-swallow grimace.) Tim was there to snap Scene photos for next week's Switch magazine, so be sure to look for them.

We washed these fresh eats down with some crisp Yellow Tail riesling. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Portland has laws against drinking in public. But those of us who show up year after year for these Western Prom concerts have a long tradition of enjoying our picnics with a nice bottle of wine or a few microbrews. And who wants to break such a fine tradition? Not me.)

The refreshments aside, it's events like this that make me really appreciate my Portland tax dollars at work. Because when the sun dips below the horizon and I'm surrounded by pleasant music and good friends, I'm reminded, once again, of why it is I choose to call this city home.