Waiting. Nope. Saying hello. And a bit with Mama.

At first I noticed just the man in the yellow shirt and the golden retriever, obviously very happy with each other. All of a sudden, the woman appeared and sat down, just as the man in the striped hoodie appeared with the black lab on a leash. The dogs didn't waste any time saying hello.

I took this photo on July 29, 2010. I was inside a Zipcar about to start it up and head right at the corner so that I could circle around to our one way street and pick up Mama for a trip to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Washington. We wanted to play the penny machines. We had fun, although I'm sure we lost some money. Mama thoroughly enjoyed the ride there, the playing, the eating, and the ride back home.


Here we are, later on downtown before we headed out of town. We had stopped by the downtown Zipcar offices for the Grand Opening at their new location. Gosh, it's hard to believe that on that particular day she had only a little over five months left to live.


This is the Zipcar, a Scion xA Artale. My first thought as I pulled out to turn right was "This is like driving a windshield!" Not one bit of the hood is visible as you drive.


And here's Mama, about to get back into Artale after our visit at the Grand Opening.

Sing-A-Long Mary Poppins, Cinema 21, NW 21st Avenue

Saturday, March 5, my friend Sarah and I enjoyed ourselves very much at the 2 p.m. Sing-A-Long Mary Poppins at Cinema 21, over in my old neighborhood. Dimwit that I am, I completely forgot to take a photo of the marquee! I have until March 20 to make it back over there to take a photo and attend the Sing-A-Long Grease--it's at 7 p.m.

While we waited in line to pick up our will-call tickets, Mary Poppins herself came out to speak to me--I had on a headband sporting two long-stemmed flowers and a butterfly because people were encouraged to dress up in costume. She wanted to talk flowers-on-your-hat for a minute or two. Delightful. Soon this charming little girl appeared with her grownups. Seeing Mary Poppins literally stopped her in her tracks. I thought it was very sweet of MP to speak with her, to call attention to her friend Winnie the Pooh who had come to see the movie with her.


As we walked through the lobby, each of us received a bag of goodies--turned out to be sort of movie props for the audience's enjoyment, to heighten our sense of participation beyond mere singing. Here you see Sarah holding our cards and her umbrella. Mine's the card on the left.


Mary Poppins held each item up, one at a time, and asked the audience for suggestions when to use them during the movie. Other items included a chocolate penny for Feed the Birds; a Pixy Stix for A Spoonful of Sugar, the umbrella for Mary Poppins arrival and departure, a kazoo for when the penguins show up in the part where Mary and Bert and Michael and Jane jump into Bert's sidewalk art, a Champagne Party Popper to pull and cause to explode at one of the times that Admiral Boom's man shot off that cannon on the roof, a paper fan to blow away all of those other nannies who answered Mr. Banks' ad for a new nanny, and the pink card to hold up while everyone sang Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! You could smell the gunpowder every time that cannon went boom, what with all of us deciding to pull the string on our party popper at different times. One more thing Mary Poppins told us--the words would appear on the screen for each song which relieved my anxiety about remembering all of them.


Here's the silhouette of my "hat," caused by the light behind me inside the theater itself.


And here I am in the hall mirror at home, before heading to the show.

I can't think of what to wear when I go see Grease. I don't know where my scarves are, yet.

On the street, July 24, 2010, a lavender umbrella and a breeze

Sunny, breezy morning. As the woman waits to cross West Burnside at NW 21st Avenue, the breeze swirls around her head, lifts strands of her hair. The lavender umbrella makes a bit of shade, enough to satisfy her. Is she worried that her umbrella will be blown inside out?


She crosses the street and continues south on SW 21st Avenue, every glistening hair in place, no evidence of the breeze left behind. Intact, the umbrella still functions.

Quirky Cigarette Butt Can

OK, I first have to say that I do not like cigarettes at all. But I couldn't pass up this photo. I took it on May 5 waiting for the 17 bus at the corner of NW Glisan and NW 21st. I'm trying to walk a bit in the mornings, so I walk to different bus stops and catch the same bus I usually get, just earlier and farther from home.

Firefox couldn't find the Web site. I Googled Force Fed Led and got hits that make me think it must be the name of a Portland band.

Rainbow

This is the first photo I have taken since I became ill. It was Sunday, late afternoon, from the Walgreens parking lot at NW 21st and W. Burnside. I was in the car, waiting for the traffic to clear when I saw a bit of the rainbow. I turned into the lot and took this photo which I am happy to share with you.

So that I can enjoy all of Dancing With the Stars, I'm off for a nap now, after my second full day back at work. Thanks so much for all of the well wishes--they're much appreciated by me and Mama and Duncan.

Corporate landscape--various flowers

Subway at the corner of West Burnside and NW 21st