Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Saturday as the 15 bus pulled to a stop at the traffic signal at NW 23rd and NW Everett, I spied this little boy in arms, wearing a wintertime hat that I at first thought was a teddy bear. Then I realized, the hat actually was Scooby-Doo! I managed a few quick shots before the bus moved--thus this one--and then took a few standing still on the sidewalk--thus the top photo.

Sunday evening, corner of SW Broadway and SW Washington, waiting for the 15

After an excellent, exciting, wonderful SYTYCD live show, we rode the MAX from the Rose Garden into downtown. Leslie got off at the Big Pink--her significant other works on the 30th floor at the Portland City Grill; we enjoyed Happy Hour there before we rode the MAX to the show--and I continued on to Pioneer Courthouse Square where I got off and walked to this corner. I can't count the number of times that I've waited here for the last bus home, the 15, after work, after volunteering, after watching the lighting of Portland's Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving, after walking downtown streets looking for those special sights to photograph.


Looking north at the same intersection. Where I wait is beside Pazzo Ristorante which you can see there on the right corner of the photo. Just out of sight to the right and around the corner on SW Washington, I wait in front of two huge windows which are in the bar section of the restaurant. There's an awning and lots of light at that particular spot, a perfect place to wait for a bus in the evening. The irony of how often I wait here rests on the 11th floor of the white and brick building on the left side of the photo--the one with the well-lighted exterior stairwell. That's the Benson Hotel, the place where Mama and I stayed for our first visit to Portland in 2004, from June 30 through July 9. We never had to turn on the air conditioner, never had to shut the windows AND there were not any screens. No bugs, no mosquitoes, no humidity. I mean I knew I wanted to move to Portland when we got off the airplane and onto the MAX for the ride to the Benson, but the fact that we didn't have to turn on the AC, that we didn't have screens, that we never saw a bug--wow! Totally sold me and planted the seed of moving here firmly in Mama's mind.

Surprise Snow, December 29, 2009

The traffic waits at the intersection of SE Grand and SE Morrison. The snow falls as it had been doing since mid-afternoon. Rain had been predicted, but as I understood it from hearing something on the radio, frigid wind blew in from the east, right through the Columbia River Gorge and into Portland and other nearby areas.

Silly me--I had paid attention to the morning weather report. I had my umbrella; I left my YakTrax at home! This time of year I always wear two coats, the outer one a water-repellant coat, the inner one a fleece jacket. Thank goodness it was a wet snow and that few people had walked the sidewalk between my building and this bus stop. I could avoid compacted, slippery looking snow very easily. However, I did not feel safe enough to go to the Hollywood Theater for Charles Phoenix's Retro Holiday Slide Show. I lost the $15 I had paid for the ticket, but I didn't slide down. Ha, ha--that's sort of a pun! A little over two and a half hours after I took this photo, I walked into the apartment thanks to the skillful, determined man driving the #15 bus.

More surprise snow photos tomorrow!