Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Snow, on Christmas Day!

Here you have some photos of our trip to Lake Oswego, to Lindsay's Aunt Laura's home, for Christmas Day with family, friends, food and fun. It all started with the surprise of falling snowflakes. It matters not that it didn't stick around for too many hours.

Here's Mama! Dec. 25, 2007. On Jan. 23, 2008, she'll turn 82, a fact which continually surprises her. She first posed for me, standing inside the building's entry.
c1

Then she bundled up and posed in the snow before heading for the Buick. Personally, I was thrilled that Leland was driving because I could take photos!
c2

Here you can see the entrance to our building. Besides being good for Mama--not too many steps, two colors on the steps which helps her perception as she makes a decision about where to step, and a sturdy handrail--it's quite nice-looking, too.
c3

Notice the red lampposts? They're in front of Portland's Classical Chinese Garden. How about this wonderful quotation I found on their Web site: "Most cherished in this mundane world is a place without traffic; truly in the midst of a city there can be mountain and forest." Wen Zhengming (1470-1559)
c5

The traffic signal marks the intersection of NW Everett and NW 3rd Avenue. We're about to turn right onto 3rd. Two blocks after the turn, we'll pass the bus stop at NW Couch. I sometimes walk there, all the way down Everett, 1.22 miles (according to MapQuest) from the apartment's front door.
c6

We're on SW 3rd Avenue, just south of Burnside. The snow looks great against that dark awning and the red brick.
c7

I didn't look at the street signs, but I think we're on SW 1st Avenue here. You really can tell how important trees are in Portland from this shot, can't you? This is southwest downtown, in the midst of all sorts of office buildings.
c8

Here's the 17, in southwest Portland, miles from where we can catch it a block from the apartment. TriMet operates every single day of the year.
c9

When we paused at a traffic signal in Lake Oswego (where Aunt Laura lives), I took this photo through the open window.
c10

We almost there now.
c11


It will be a couple of days before I get the rest of the Christmas photos posted--thanks for your patience.

3 comments:

Lilli & Nevada said...

Happy New Year to you as well. And i know we will have a great time on our trip, just hope it will be warmer than last yr.
Glad that you got a bit of snow. But like us we are ready for it to go away.

Unknown said...

I wandered over here from a friend of a friend's blog. I lived in the Portland area most of my life, and my husband and I are currently trying to find a way to move back there from Boise.

I just wanted to thank you for posting all of these Portland pictures--it made my New Year's Day that much happier to have a glimpse of home. I used to work in a building on 6th between Stark and Washington, so some of your photos are from my old stomping grounds. (And it looks as if you live very close to the Starbucks where my friend works, too.)

I know it's hard to live in a new city far from home and family and friends, but I hope you will enjoy your life in Portland as much as I enjoyed my time there. Happy New Year from one Portland gal to another.

Kerri Farley said...

Your Momma is so pretty! She definitely doesn't look close to 82! Wow!!!

I am really behind in commenting...and I'm hoping to catch up!