Heading out for work, or making the block--it all depends on the direction of the turns.

To orient you, I took these photos after work on Thursday, but I'm writing about week-day mornings.

Out the front door and turn right, looking east on NW Everett. That's the Rose Plaza on the left and the Elizabeth on the right. I cross NW 22nd Avenue here 95 percent of the time each weekday morning and continue down Everett. A week ago I decided to no longer catch the 17 down at NW 21st and Everett--the woman driver is, well, a woman driver! She's got the bus bobbin' and weavin', swayin' and swervin'--if the bus were capable of making the right turn off Everett onto 3rd with only the wheels on one side touching the pavement, she'd have it doin' that! She's a nice woman but not the driver for me. So, I either turn right onto NW 21st and head over to Burnside to catch a 15 or a 20, or I walk one of several routes--all with the potential to catch a bus should I up and give out. That doesn't happen often lately because walking has upped my endurance.



The other 5% of the time, I turn right at the corner and walk up to Burnside where I turn left and ... you know, it's in the first paragraph. On the way I pass NW Davis which dead ends into NW 22nd, right at the Elephant Deli's parking lot.



Here's a huge old chestnut tree, on the corner of Davis and 22nd. I had no idea how much stuff falls out of chestnut trees. I now see "Under a spreading chestnut-tree, The village smithy stands" in an entirely different light--the guy's covered with spiky green balls and/or huge leaves and/or chestnuts still encased in the balls and/or revealed in their smooth, shiny brown skins.



About half way between Davis and Burnside, there's the Ringside Steakhouse parking lot and this stunning line up of trees. Please note the color-coordinated reddish/maroon truck. Serendipity, street-level accessory style.



Now you can see the corner where I turn left onto Burnside. Note the apartment building across the street. It's a pale olive green and orange along with the brick--our old management company manages it and used the same awful-colored paint on our old building. The cars on the right are parked beside the Goodwill Store's parking lot. How about those balconies on that sliver of a building--the gray strips? They look like fun, but I image it gets pretty noisy in those apartments--Burnside is a really, really busy street.

Let's pretend I didn't turn left and go to work, that I turned back around and walked back towards the apartment. I crossed over to NW 22nd Place, walking through the Elephant's parking lot.



The golden tree and the tablet are part of the Hazel Hall poetry garden, beside her family home which is on the National Register of Historic Places. In the background you can see another unique Northwest Hill apartment building--Casey's friend Isolde lives here. Next, I turned right and headed north onto NW 22nd Place, stopped in my tracks by the old blue VW and the red trees. Just look at the amount of leaves on the ground--that must have been some sight before the wind and the rain!





Now I've turned right one last time, back onto Everett. Hey, I just had a thought. I could do this in the mornings if I start out early enough and get a bit more exercise that way. Well, I'd have to make sure the Elephant parking lot lights shine into the poetry garden or else I might hit my shin on a tablet.

If you'd like to see one more photo of glorious fall foliage and matching street-level accessories, please go to my other blog, Portland (OR) Daily Photo.

Some of the autumn beauty for y'all!

Here are some photos I've posted recently at Portland (OR) Daily Photo. I can't resist sharing them with y'all.



Recently the television weatherman said that Portland's weather is more like November than October, as much as ten degrees cooler than it ought to be. When I was a kid growing up, October meant cooler weather and the leaves changed color, so I think it's just right.

On our street you can see reds beginning to overtake greens in one of the trees in front of the Manhattan. I first saw the change in the tree when I looked out the bathroom window. Then I noticed the yellow and black car with the For Sale sign in the window, and continuing on up the sidewalk, I saw the red car and the other yellow car. Ah. A perfect fall foliage photo, with street-level accessories. I leaned out one of Mama's bedroom window to get the shot I wanted.

P.S. I took the close-up of the leaves resting on the sidewalk in the rain Thursday evening after shopping for groceries at our nearby Fred Meyer. I couldn't resist that vivid red.



A week ago Saturday, I walked to get the car so that Mama, Duncan and I could tour at leisure our neighborhood and the steep hill above it. We wanted to find more colorful autumn leaves to enjoy and to share with everyone.

I walked around to unlock the passenger door and couldn't believe this golden leaf balanced so perfectly on the door handle. Then I looked up to enjoy the leaves still on the tree.





These are of another tree across Everett, also in front of the Manhattan; I took these photos through one of our living room windows.







Merry Autumn Days

By Charles Dickens

‘Tis pleasant on a fine spring morn
To see the buds expand,.
‘Tis pleasant in the summer time
To see the fruitful land;
‘Tis pleasant on a winter’s night
To sit around the blaze,
But what are joys like these, my boys,
To merry autumn days!

We hail the merry Autumn days,
When leaves are turning red;
Because they’re far more beautiful
Than anyone has said,
We hail the merry harvest time,
The gayest of the year;
The time of rich and bounteous crops,
Rejoicing and good cheer.

In and around Portland, it's been raining, it's been blowing ... off and on for days. That happens this time of year, with welcome sun breaks now and then.

Still and all, beautiful sights await my camera and me. I couldn't believe that at the moment I decided to push up one of the windows in Mama's bedroom and take a few photos of the same tree across the street, there walked two women in perfectly colored raincoats--more street-level accessories for our autumn leaves. Oh, I didn't lean out to take the photo this time because I wanted to stay dry!

Blazer Hoop-de-do! Blazers win, 111-102.

For the beginning of this series of photos I took at my first NBA game since 1989 when I went to Houston, Texas, and saw the Boston Celtics play the Houston Rockets, please look at http://portlandoregondailyphoto.blogspot.com/ on Oct. 11 and 12. Thanks!

The Blazer Stunt Team entertained at time outs and in between the different periods. I must admit that I held my breath when they tossed those smaller women up way high into the air.

I'm pretty sure that it was during the third quarter that the Stunt Team came back up into the stands and gave out free pizzas. I didn't try for one, but some little kids to my right got all excited when one of the guys handed one to them.

Twice when there was no action on the court, this inflated car floated around the arena. As far as I could tell, underneath it were two remote-control-operated round white rings with fan blades in their centers. When they changed directions--parallel or perpendicular to the bottom of the car--the car slowly changed directions. Both times it showed up, there were coupons in envelopes hanging from beneath the car. Every once in a while, a coupon detached and floated down into the out-stretched arms of an excited fan. I cannot remember exactly what was being given away, maybe a CD and/or a DVD from somewhere. If you look closely, you can see an envelope falling toward the crowd in the first photo. A man wearing a long-sleeved white shirt is pointing up towards it, with his right arm.



At halftime, a local dance group performed at center court. This young man came out last and danced. I'm guessing it's hip hop that he's doing. He was pretty good. That took quite a bit of courage, I think, to get out in front of possibly 13,000 people and dance!





According to the Trail Blazers' Web page, the Rose Garden Arena is in the process of being improved to make it much better for the fans. This scoreboard is a big part of that process; it got as much news coverage after this particular game--the opening pre-season game for the Blazers--as did the team's play. Here's what the Web site had to say about the scoreboard:
"Highlighting the improvements is a new video scoreboard at the Rose Garden that will be among the largest video scoreboards in the NBA. The new Mitsubishi screens measure 15’ x 22.5’ and are powered by a new state-of-the-art high-definition video control room."

A Blazer had made a three-point shot! Fireworks on the scoreboard! I love it.

Blaze the Trail Cat kept the crowd going at all times. He went up and down and all around more than once. I got these shots in the third quarter when he walked up, hitting a drum and stirring up the fans. He waved, he danced, he drummed, he put his paw to his head or held his head low when the Blazers missed a shot. At one point he was dancing in front of me, highly entertaining and funny, so I laughed out loud. He heard me and whipped around to give me a look--sort of like, What's up with you? Then he waved, like he was acknowledging that he knew he looked funny and that it was just fine with him that I laughed. I enjoyed the Blazers' mascot!















The Blazer Dancers changed outfits at least three times, danced and or waved red metallic pom-poms like cheerleaders, before the game, during time outs, half time, between periods. I have two thoughts about the dancers. Some, if not all, of those young ladies are going to need chiropractor visits at some point in their lives because they sling their heads and necks all over the place, in seemingly several different directions at once. Hair was flying! The other thought--thank goodness they all had a healthy size to them, no thin-as-a-rail, scary-looking women. I think that's a fantastic subliminal message they send to their numerous little girl fans. Congrats to the Blazer Dancers!





Something else I noticed about the game was the number of families in attendance--both parents and children, not just teens but toddlers, too--mixed in with all the rest of the fans. During the first half there was a sort of bowling contest on the court. A couple of nine-year-old boys threw basketballs as hard as the could across the court towards the bowling pins. The kid in front of the Blazers' bench won--I know not what.

Then at some point in the second half, there was a tricycle race--two little boys and this little girl peddled around the court, twice. Well, the little girl peddled, fast and furious. You can tell she had some speed going by looking at the letters she's riding over, at the bottom of the photo. She blew those little boys out of the arena--they couldn't get going the right direction or anything. Way to go, little girl!

Finally, here's a shot of the Blazers' bench. I took this because I wanted you to get a glimpse of Greg Oden, number one draft pick overall last June. He's wearing the dark sport coat at the lower left corner of the photo. Since he had that microfracture surgery, he's out all season. However, since he's just 19 and seems to savor every minute of being in Portland, I'm betting when Oden gets to play starting next October, all Portland Trail Blazer fans will be thrilled to see him on the court.

Cristina and Leland's Place: A Timeline

Here's my photo-timeline of the progress on Cristina and Leland's new place, which is attached to her mother and step-father's home. I think it's wonderful that Delia and Gabriel want the two of them to be near; it's a sign of a family filled with love and caring. This timeline just hits a few points; it's not at all representative of the hard work the four of them, plus other crew members--both family and professional--put in over the last year. They're hoping to get the carpet, linoleum and cabinets installed soon. Then they'll move in. Hooray for them!

October, 2006


Now all this great big hole in the ground has become the home area which is directly behind the garage you see in the photo below.

May, 2007


When Kay and Milton drove up from Mississippi to visit, naturally one of the places we wanted to show them was Cristina and Leland's work-in-progress. Here's Cristina and Kay, standing where the driveway is today.

May, 2007


We went inside to see how the living area was progressing. Cristina's explaining the design for the ceiling. Behind Milton and Kay is the French door that opens directly into the back yard. The French door to the left opens towards the patio that you can see in the first photo.

May, 2007


From the backyard I got a pretty good shot of Mt. Hood. The fence you can barely see at the bottom of the photo is across the road that passes by the back of the place. The close up of Mt. Hood is enhanced a bit by iPhoto. Remember, this is the last week in May. Look at that snow! Now, the first week in October, it's snowing up there again, around 10,000 foot mark I think I heard on the weather report.

May, 2007


July, 2007


Leland posed for me at the back door. He's excited at the possibility of soon being settled in their home, as is his sweetheart.

July, 2007


This is the view from the garage, through the middle of the addition. The master bedroom and bathroom, plus another bathroom are on the right. Two other bedrooms are on the left.

July, 2007


Here's what I'm calling the great room. Isn't this bronze color fantastic? I can't wait to see how Cristina and Leland decorate it. I also like the silvery gray ceiling which gently sparkles.

July, 2007


Here's a close-up of the texture of the walls. Pretty neat!

July, 2007


July, 2007


The garage is huge, as you can tell by the width of this concrete pad.

August, 2007


I think these ceiling fans look fantastic. Most of the time up here in Portland all you need is a fan and/or an open window. This photo is in one of the bedrooms.

August, 2007


On this particular visit, Mama and I found these lovely dahlias at a roadside stand in Damascus. Here they're decorating Gabriel's saw which had been well-used throughout the months. I can't remember what the little wooden tool is for, but I think it got used lots, too.

August, 2007


The intrepid crew: Gabriel, Delia, Cristina, Leland. They paused in their work to pose for a photo. At this particular time, the exterior of the entire house, old and new, was in the process of getting two coats of paint.

That's all for now. After the move, I'll get more photos to share with y'all.

Continuing the Milton's Gourmet White Bread thread ...

I'd say 95% of the time, ever since I discovered this scrumptious bread, I've had the same thing for lunch--it makes the mornings easier if I'm in a routine, at my age of nearly 60.

Left to right: ice-cold sweet tea (Cold Brew Lipton sweetened with Splenda--I love the 21st century!) in an ice cup from Burger King; my half peanut butter sandwich; and a delicious fruit serving from the coffee counter on the first floor--there's a generous slice of watermelon hiding out in the bottom. Tuesdays and Fridays I pick up the free Portland Tribune, scan the headlines and try the crossword--operative word, try; Mama always completes it on the paper I take her. Other days, I'm reading Roy Blount Jr.'s book "Long Time Leaving Dispatches from Up South." Let me tell you, at times this book has made me want to whoop and holler, it's that funny, but since I'm eating in an employee lounge, I struggle and manage to maintain my manners. Besides that, it's a thought-provoking read covering a roving range of topics.

Y'all have a great Friday!