Listen Carefully

The trees in Portland and the South Park Blocks where this photo was taken are not only in bloom but are also leafing out. That also means they're full of little tiny birds ... sparrows and other small chirping birds. It's a convention out there. No charge for this concert. Just go and listen. That's what this small boy was doing. He didn't seem at all interested in the conversation from the cell phone, just the chatter of the birds. For all of the images from today, click here.

Imagination Instead of Photoshop

Today was a rainy, overcast day unlike this very warm Saturday earlier in the month (pictured here). See that empty spot in the foreground? Just enough room for me to have been out there. So today while I was sick with the flu, I imagined myself at Tanner Springs resting in the sun. The streetcar would have gone by every fifteen minutes or so. Birds would be singing. Children would be playing. I'd be soaking up the rays. Imagination is a great thing, especially when you're sick. I did post a number of photos from our trip to New York City last April (click here).

Monday and More Moisture

That would be rain... as seen in this puddle and in the other images from today. Click here and start with the Olympus camera (film no less and probably black and white).

Blossoms ~ It's Still Spring

Early morning walk around the north end of the streetcar line. A gray day and a gray wall ~ all of which made these blossoms even more colorful and beautiful...  Looking forward to tomorrow.

Saturday ~ Farmers Market

Another Saturday at the Farmers Market ~ we saw any number of patrons and vegetables. And then we came across these two dudes who were getting ready for a day of playing music. That saxophone happens to be the largest I've ever seen, a bass I'm told. Here are two images of vegetables. For the rest from today click here.

Back in Portland

Standing in the South Park Blocks, you can see past the streetcar tracks to this amazing Heritage Elm. Turn around and you'll discover this small sign at the First Congregational Church. The Docents at the Portland Art Museum are hosting an art show featuring the work of some of their members - 23 of them! Included in that grouping is yours truly. Come out and enjoy the work during the month of April. For all of the images from today, click here. And for a special treat, click here for images from the amazing Free Marz concert that just ended an hour and a half ago.

Portland Via Seattle

Ah, the sweet smell and sight of rain. Even if it was Seattle it was soon to be Portland. Regular viewing of images from along the Portland Streetcar line to resume tomorrow!!!

Errands in NW Las Vegas

Even though the housing market has officially tanked in Las Vegas, construction is still in progress. Some of it is more strip and corner malls. The other sector, is, wait ... housing. Go figure. Sigh...

More often than not you'll find yourself behind something like this in the fast lane of the major arteries that connect the freeways.  A few other images here... start at the heavy equipment!

More Las Vegas ~ Nellis Air Force Base

Or at least the hospital. Another day away from Portland. This time 9 to 5 at the hospital at Nellis. Leaving the base we came across fields, fields of solar panels. To see those and the other pix from Vegas (not the strip) click here.

Not Portland ~ Outer Fringe of Las Vegas

Yes, this is a shot from Northwest Las Vegas – clearly I'm not in Portland. Duty calls for a week so the blog could go dormant or  I could post alternatives as I did for the weekend in San Francisco. The week will not be your classic casino Las Vegas Adventure. Today I went to the outer reaches of suburban Las Vegas and found a bit of the old ecosystem fenced in by rail-like transmission poles. For all of the Las Vegas pix click here.

River Parkway

Not as much sun today as there was yesterday. We took a ride down to the River Parkway stop. There's quite a complex that has been built up there with plenty of reflections and buildings that are not quite the usual box. This tree seemed so stately I had to take its portrait. One mallard was in the area as were the "usual suspects", pigeons. For their images and the rest of the ones from today, check here.

First Day of Spring in Portland

Oh my goodness, there was sun today. It doesn't take a great deal to have the Portland peeps out catching some rays. Here are a few from the day. The rest are here... Included are images from the Portland Farmers Market at PSU. Being the first day of the 2010 Market and also Spring, it was a joyful event – more vendors and more space complete with a different configuration.

Farmers Market Vendor

Biking in the Sun

An extremely beautiful day out there. You can get a sense of that from this woman who has chosen to bicycle to wherever she was going on her errands as well as the extremely well defined shadow from the brilliant sun. I spent most of the day inside. Part of that was at the Apple Store in Pioneer Square. The old wireless base station died last night and so I made the journey to mecca for a new one. It's now freshly installed (all of twenty minutes) and the household is now wireless again. For all of the images from today, click here. The image below though is quite amusing...

More Fun in the Sun on Thursday

And certainly more fun than I'm having posting this. My router is defunct. I'm using a neighbor's wi-fi and that's problematic four doors away. It was a great day out there and there are definitely more photos to see, hopefully here. Try it and let me know.

Reflected Spring

This wall is between NW 14th and 15th on Kearney. For a brief period yesterday, the shadow outline of the tree with its blossoms could be seen because of the reflected light from across the street. The image on the left below is from the corner of that block and the one on the right is across the street with a view of the sidewalk.

What Might Have Been

When we first moved to Portland, one of the townhomes across from this mural on NW 12th was available for sale. We chose not to buy that, but when I walk by I always think about what might have been. The view around the corner would have been one I would have seen daily (first image on the left). Tonight I walked by both of these spots to go to class at PNCA. Their CE courses are discounted for the Seniors of the community. I'm enrolled in a Tuesday night drawing class. My skills are improving to the point that you the viewer would be able to tell the table from the chair now. Maybe someday I'll post one of my works. In the meantime, one of my classmates offered to let me take a photo of her hand after a charcoal drawing. Art is great, you get a chance to get all "dirty" with paints, pencils and charcoal. For all of the "streetcar" images from today click here. For a study of five hands, click here. And for some from my neighborhood, click here.

Portland Spring

Today was really like a spring day here in Portland. I missed the lunchtime hubbub but was along the streetcar line between two and three in the afternoon. Tanner Springs Park and Jamison Square were filled with people doing what people do when they're in a park. The first three photos in the collage are from Tanner Springs with the last being two people reading in front of Sip & Kranz adjacent to Jamison Square. To see these and the other images from the day, click here.

Yesterday Goldfish, Today Dogs

The off-leash dog area in The Pearl is just north of Tanner Square Park and the streetcar line. The Rhodesian Ridgeback is quite taken with the Chihuahua Mafia. He's impressed that they stand their ground. All three of these dogs are having a better time than the two shown below, both of whom are waiting. For all of the images from today, click here.

Afternoon Sun Break

Voice from the Couch and I went to a lecture at the Portland Art Museum this afternoon. Family Day is tomorrow and that will be free. Once we left the lecture the camera and I ventured down to Tanner Square Park again. The goldfish are quite happy there as are the crows. Especially the crows, they were feasting on Cheetos someone had left. Probably not so good for them but the black and orange certainly make for a great photo. Just outside of the park, these two people were enjoying both the sun and a good laugh. A great day all around... All of the images here.

About the Children

Fridays this month are about the children. Being Docent Day Chair, I'm at the Portland Art Museum on Friday mornings coordinating the school children with their assigned touring docents. Later after delivering Badbeard coffee to friends, I came across this young violinist. Little Red Riding Hood with her first violin was walking with her mother near Tanner Square Park at the north end of the Portland Streetcar line. Here's a shot of them in the park. For all of today's images, click here.

Rainy Day Lunch

The Chihuahua Mafia was yammering to go on an adventure today. Our compromise was to have lunch at the Ecotrust Building, again. We're regulars. This time it was raining, not a soul was sitting outside. These umbrellas looked quite forlorn by themselves especially with colorful umbrellas all around them actually protecting someone. Check out the yellow and green one in the first image below. And of course there's the much smaller umbrella in the last image. The boots are what captivate in that one. For all of the images from today, click here.

Blossoms and Reflections

Blossoms still fill the air with both color and fragrance. Even though the day was cold and at times filled with hail, there were still moments of brilliant sun. The woman on NW 23rd was busy taking a shot of herself (something I've been known to do) and the other two walked by Cork on NW Lovejoy oblivious to their colorful reflection. Reflections are everywhere adding to the texture of the moments of our lives, we just need to look. For all of the images from today, click here.

Memories Surfacing

Looking over today's photos from the Streetcar adventure, I'm taken back to any number of memories. First up are the steps/seats at Pioneer Square. Voice from the Couch and I have spent many happy hours in Portland's Living Room ~ movies, the Italian Fest, Indian Festival, Sand in the City, the World Cup. The list is long.

Then there's the image of the woman bicycling with her children "Laos" style. There are at least two of these bicycles/riders in Portland ~ one bicycle is silverish and one is red. Both of them are better styled for this purpose than what's used in Laos where up to five or six kids are packed on the back. Voice from the Couch and I spent almost three weeks in Laos several years ago. It's a beautiful country, go visit...

And last but not least is this Single Speed Bicycle. I've taken shots of any number of this style of bicycle recently. They're extremely elegant and very efficient. But then there's the issue of your knees. And hips. In any case, I'm reminded of one acquaintance who biked the Terrible Two on a single speed ~ that's a 200 mile bike ride in California's Sonoma and Napa Counties (see map here). Admittedly he did have a brake. And that's a good thing since there were 16,000 feet of climbing over the course of 200 miles between the hours of 5:30am and 10:30pm in one day. Some of those climbs were steep as were the descents. I successfully completed the course twice, both times with brakes and both times within the allotted time to be considered a Finisher. And I had many more gears than one!!!

You should consider taking a gander at all of the images for the day (click here). In addition to a cool remodeling shot there's a series of five in which an OHSU employee puts out a fire in a trash container next to the streetcar I was waiting in while the north wind came down from Alaska.

Monday, Monday

Mondays can be stressful days. Much to do, so little time it always seems. And the mobile/cell phone is ever present. This Buddha sits in the window of Shogun at the Marshall and 23rd stop. I'm thinking it's a definite message for us all to seek a level of calm and inner peace even with this symbol of constant connection. For the remaining images from today, click here.

3+7+10=Sunny and 65 in Portland

Today we were blanketed in white petals, snow with fragrance. It was a glorious day to take the streetcar. And that's what we did, walking to Marshall and 23rd (passing some of our favorite people at Vivace) and alighting at Lovejoy and 13th. After having coffee at Tanner Square Park (on the edge since we had the Chihuahua Mafia with us), proceeded over to the Temporary Off-Leash area just a block and a half away from the streetcar line. Everyone was out enjoying the sun! For all of the images, click here. Remember to view any of these three larger, just click on the image.