Icons on Parade, one of my miniature art cars

Please scroll down to see today's dahlia, Papageno, from Swan Island Dahlias.

It's been a while since I pulled out all of my cars and toys and paints and glue. Here's one I concocted.

Homer Simpson and Tweety Bird.


Buzz Lightyear and Mickey Mouse, along with three teens who hitched a ride in the parade.


Today's dahlia, Papageno. Facts from Swan Island Dahlias--Bloom: 10" Golden Peach, Bush: 3 1/2'

By the numbers, Wood Village Nite Out, No. 1

Known across the country as National Night Out, America's Night Out Against Crime arrives on August 4. However, I learned through the newspaper that nearby Wood Village, Oregon, a city that covers .9 square miles and is way out east from my usual Portland haunts--past Gresham and Fairview and before Troutdale--would celebrate on Friday, July 17, 2009. An impressive list of planned activities beckoned me and my camera to venture east in Multnomah County.

After 530 photos taken of activities at Wood Village Nite Out, four hours walking about and/or standing in the sun-filled, mid-90s evening, three memory cards filled, three bites of a hot dog, two bottles of water consumed, two Multnomah County Sheriff's Office K-9 demonstrations, two Lake Oswego K-9 Demonstrations, one bottle of kiwi-strawberry Propel consumed, one Shasta orange soda consumed, one Multnomah County Sheriff's Office SWAT demonstration, one US Coast Guard helicopter landing, one emergency vehicle parade--as you well know I could go on and on and on--I sat myself down in the Buick and drove away from fun-filled Wood Village, Oregon.

To say that I felt hot, sweaty and satisfied would be the truth. To say that I didn't care that I would get to 3 Doors Down Cafe an hour earlier than I had planned would be the truth. That meant I could relax, drink some water and eat some tasty food. And that's exactly what I did, plus I added one new-fangled Old Fashioned for good measure. After all, Leland drove me on home.

Let's begin with some vehicles from the parade.


The Multnomah County Sheriff is in the first car. His name, Sheriff Skipper, is on the back door.




How about this vintage Multnomah County Sheriff's vehicle? A Ford--I don't know the year, but I love this car!


Unfortunately, this piece of equipment probably gets way too much use.


With the Willamette and Columbia Rivers surrounding Portland, we often hear on the news that a dive team has been called out. The van must be how they get wherever they are needed.


Here's the Gresham Fire Department truck, complete with a clown waving to people along the street. I love a parade!




Well-used, heavily-forested mountains are in every direction you can go from Portland. We hear even more often about Search and Rescue operations on the TV news.


I Googled AMR Reach and Treat Portland Oregon and found out this is a very busy rescue branch, too.


I didn't know the Sheriff had motorcycles. I've only seen Portland Police on motorcycles. Well, to tell you the truth, I've only seen a motorcycle policeman in line at the Burger King, getting his lunch, still wearing his rather large white helmet. I bet he's got to be ready to go on a moment's notice. Wonder if there's a radio in the helmet?

That's it for the parade--not all that was there but all I'm posting.

Monday, June 23, 2008 ... Things are not what they seem, and that's the truth

I know you're wondering why this post says, "Monday, June 23, 2008" in the title and Sunday, June 22, 2008, in the date area that Blogger provides. And there's a good chance you're wondering what someone whose allergies have been kicking her in the boo-tay is doing taking photos of flowers afield. Here's the truth.

Ever since Blogger made a change of some magnitude in early May, I've tried to work with Blogger and the City Daily Photo portal to make my posts show up on the portal after I've published them, with the date that I want on them. It's just not happening for me on a regular basis. I wish they'd go back to the way it was, so that I could do what I used to do: I fixed up my post for tomorrow, tonight, so that I didn't have to stay awake until after midnight or try to post early in the morning because I value my sleep too much to want to get up any earlier. To make sure the date was correct, I'd go to Post Options and put in the next day's date and 12:01 AM. It would then publish with that information on it. Since May 2, if I do that, it doesn't actually publish until then, right after midnight, when I have told Blogger to schedule it for publishing. That's a great big ol' bunch of hooey, to me. At my age, I don't want to fuss with technology that won't do what I want it to do, so I'm going to post the night before most all of the time and type the date that I want the post to pertain to in my title for the post.



Now, for the flowers. I took these photos, and several more, at Portland's Living Room, Pioneer Courthouse Square, right downtown. My allergies let me along except for a few sneezes. In fact, the only real interruption came when I walked up to Broadway to see what the whooping and hollering was about and found myself watching a small, boisterous, happy portion of the Lesbian and Trans-sexual Parade, complete with motorcycle police who had them pause regularly so that the MAX trains could continue their scheduled runs, east and west beside the square. Ah, Portland.

Information from the Pioneer Courthouse Square Calendar of Events:
Festival of Flowers Presented by Hoffman Construction Company
On Display: June 6 – 18, Flower Sale: Begins June 19 at 8am

This June marks the return of one of Portland’s most renowned annual events, Festival of Flowers at Pioneer Courthouse Square. This year Pioneer Courthouse Square has partnered with The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment and Hoffman Construction to create a sustainable “urban meadow” in the heart of downtown. Over 15,000 plants of vibrant color will blend together on-site to create a stunning display for community members and visitors to enjoy. An estimated 350,000 people gather during this two-week celebration to enjoy the opening of the summer season with flowers and fun!


I only took photos of flowers in the urban meadow and will post more of them soon.

On Thursday and Friday afternoons, as I disembarked from my first bus at the corner of SW 2nd and Main, I saw several people with flat cardboard boxes filled with flowers they'd bought on their lunch hours, I imagine. Ah, Portland.