Quirky find of mine, on SE Powell

I took this photo as Leland drove by in our old 1996 Buick, on October 23, 2010. I'd noticed the mannequin and the hubcap structure on another west-bound trip on SE Powell, so I had my camera out. Leland couldn't slow down much, too much traffic on SE Powell, even mid-day Saturday. The mannequin's sort of blurry, but I like how the photo turned out anyway. As best I can determine from Google and Google Maps, this business is at 7057 SE Powell and is known as Hubcap Headquarters. I can't say for sure because the building which is to the right of the hubcap structure in my photos is red, the one at Google Maps is tan. And the hubcap structure is not in the Google Maps Street View.

Seen from the Buick on May 9, 2009 ... click!

I'm driving the Buick--I think I was on East Burnside near SE 22nd. Out of the corner of my eye as I slow down for a traffic signal, I notice something. Is that a stuffed giraffe riding in the passenger seat, I wonder. I grab the camera, point it over my shoulder, and click. The lady still grinned as I took the camera down and gave her the thumbs up.

Do you see another critter in the car?

Seen from the TriMet bus on May 23 ... click, click, click

A classy-looking lady walks south on SW 3rd in downtown Portland--I was on my way to work and saw her as I sat on on the opposite side of the bus.

Which of these three photos do you like the best? Do you like the frame that the bus window trim created? The way her umbrella contrasts with the shadow? The way her black bag fits perfectly in that dip on the window trim in the second photo? How strong she looks?






It was a busy weekend, and I missed getting to blog and look at everyone's blogs! Here's the rundown. Early Saturday morning, I went to the Farmers' Market and came home with the rolling black bag stuffed with veggies (three kinds of lettuce, small, thin-skinned potatoes, rainbow chard, Italian kale, curly kale, asparagus, baby bok choy, fennel,and tomatoes),fruit (Fuji apples, Bosc pear),and mushrooms (morels), plus another smaller bag with a Pine State biscuit for Mama, some out-of-sight-delicious pork rillette, and a quart of strawberries. It took quite a while to get all of it prepped and into the frig.

Mama fell in the bathroom right after I got back from the market, but thank goodness, she didn't break anything! She's been a bit confused and is quite sore, but by Monday evening she began to feel more normal, not so "shaken up" as she put it. I stayed home from work to keep an eye on her on Monday, especially since she felt much worse on Sunday than she had on Saturday.)

Later on Saturday I went on an errand and ended up with a flat front passenger tire on the Buick and had to sit while an angel-of-a-stranger put on the spare--I was able to pull off the road in a shady, safe spot in front of a convenience store--I made him take some money for all of his work, let me tell you, I couldn't have done it myself--Lamont was at work, and Leland couldn't get to where I was because there wasn't another car available. Then I had to sit in Les Schwab to get two new ones put on the front of the car--it was a rotten valve stem that caused the flat, or at least the area around the valve stem was rotten, I don't know for sure. Anyway, the other front tire was OK, but I decided I'd rather have two new ones on the front, so that what the young man did. And I had him check the valve stem and its area on the passenger rear tire because just last Saturday, Leland had to have that valve stem replaced. So, maybe it was the valve stem that had gone bad on that front passenger tire, right? To tell you the truth, what went right so outweighed what went wrong about the whole flat tire thing, that I am definitely not complaining. I could have been going faster on the highway instead of in stop-and-go traffic. There could have been no where safe and shady to pull off the road. There could have been no angel-of-a-stranger or nearby Les Schwab. It turned out the spare needed air, and I had even managed to pull off right around the corner from a gas station with an air machine!

On Sunday I made myself a new breakfast dish, I mean I made it up and cooked it, then I ate it--Mama was still asleep and doesn't like . Took pictures which I will post soon, with appropriate details. Then Leland came to get me so that we could go to Fred Meyer to get the rest of our groceries. By the time we got it home and upstairs, I was beat, bushed, and just wanted to sit once it was all put away. Sit I did, until time for supper when I warmed up left-over roast, potatoes, and a dish I made up of leek, onion, turnip and arugula I had sauteed together in my olive/canola oil mixture.

On Monday, I dust-mopped, changed out our Dri-Z-Air containers by pouring out the water drawn from the air and filling the basket atop the catch basin with the little white balls that do the drawing. We keep one container in each closet to protect from moisture build-up. I also continued to rub Mama's sore spots with Shaklee's Joint and Muscle Pain Cream, natural plant extracts with pain-relieving cooling menthol. "It sure does help in a minute, too," Mama just said, adding "at least it does to me." She's right!

Anyway, I'm back.

Our Mother's Day Dogwood Blossom for Everyone

We took a ride in the Buick on Mother's Day afternoon, through some streets in Southeast Portland. One particular dogwood, among dozens, stood close enough to the sidewalk that I was able to pull over and take a few photos. I held a small branch still and took this photo blindly pointing the camera toward that blossom. I know it's not in focus on the blossom, but still I do like this photo. The green grass in the background makes the photo, I think.

I wanted to share it with all of you. I know I'm late on Mother's Day, but nevertheless, I'm sending out my best wishes to you.

Seen on the streets of Portland, No. 4

Waiting for the bus at the corner of SE 39th Avenue and SE Hawthorne Blvd. You can guess what caught my eye, right? The yellow plaid boots and the sort of leaf-patterned skirt. When I downloaded the photo, I thought, "How brave these young women of Portland dress themselves, mixing colors, designs, layers." I find I'm jealous and wonder should I try such nights and weekends out.

I'm in the Buick, heading south but stopped at the traffic signal, on Oct. 19, 2008.

Drive-by Photography

Floyd’s Coffee Shop has a drive-up window. I took this photo from the Buick as I slowed down for the intersection, what I now call drive-by photography, a safe sort of drive-by shooting—as long as I pay attention to the traffic, which I can assure you, I do with diligence.

Back-In Angle

Let me just say that this parking space presented me with a challenge. It's on the corner of SW 3rd and Ankeny where Voodoo Doughnut operates 24 hours a day, according to their Web site. That's for another post.


It took a maneuver or two, but I finally made it, inside the line, the bumper not bumped. This one and only time I've tried this was in March, when Mama felt like making her first outing to the Bijou Cafe, a little over a month after she came home from the skilled nursing facility. On our last trip to the Bijou, we rode the bus there, then went on our MAX ride.

Friday, July 11, 2008 ... Bicycle Parking on SE Belmont

Mama, Duncan and I went on a sort of field trip in the Buick Tuesday after work. After Lamont and Lindsay got the thing to start--they kept it attached to her Honda for almost half an hour before trying to turn it over--I knew we needed to drive it for a while. I circled the block and picked up Mama and Duncan, with the kids help getting the two of them downstairs and quickly walking Duncan. Then, we were off, cruising here and there after we crossed the Willamette River. I don't mean to give you the wrong idea, though, because we had a goal in mind, the Battery Exchange at SE 20th and Belmont where we planned to get the battery checked and/or buy a new one. Long story short, checked, bad cell, new one installed. Then, we off again, with the A/C on this time, a change of circumstances that Duncan especially appreciated.

On the way from there to our next goal, the Dairy Queen on SE Division, I spied two sets of this unique bicycle parking. I quickly picked up the camera, pointed and clicked--the traffic hardly moved, so I felt safe in doing this, realizing that I might have a photo of a curb or a wall or a post. You see the cropped photo above, and the original photo below.