Saturday, October 27, 2007

Elk, revisited, here and there

102707_elk_split

This is the second picture I've posted of this elk statue/fountain in the middle of Main Street in downtown Portland. You can see the photo from the September 14 post and read about it and the southernmost park, Chapman Square, here.

I wanted you to see exactly what the traffic does with the statue, so after work one day the first week of October, I stopped where SW Main Street intersects SW 4th Avenue, turned facing northeast and took this photo. The David P. Thompson Memorial Fountain began as a watering trough for horses. Now every day thousands of horses slip by it on the right or the left--horse power, that is.

elk_traffic_100307_green

Also I've posted another photo of the park and the elk at Mama and Me from PDX. You'll get to see another example of Portland's beautiful autumn leaves and find out all about the northernmost park, Lownsdale Square.

12 comments:

kuanyin333 said...

We just visited your lovely city about a month ago. We stayed at the Avalon Hotel & Spa and dined all over. We were very impressed with Portland. Sorry I didn't know of your blog before going, as I would have learned a lot. I'll add you now that I know you exist. :-)

FĂ©nix - Bostonscapes said...

That's kind of weird... And pretty amazing that it hasn't been moved (landmark status and all, it does look like an obstacle).

But it does look nice. So, who cares about the traffic! (Says she who doesn't like cars :D)

~tanty~ said...

The statue looks nice and this photo looks very similar with the roundabout street in Bandung, Indonesia. Oh, make me homesick :)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading this post because the photos are so nice and also because it is a reminder of the little village where I was born and where, for so many years, there were two horse troughs for watering horses. Those were still the days of horses and buggies and they needed a place for them to drink. I used to stop there often and take one of the tin cups and pump myself a cold drink of water and hang the cup back up. What a life. No television. No telephones. No inside plumbing. No running water and no hot water in the homes. No thermostats. No furnace or air conditioner. And the list goes on and on. It was the best of times.

• Eliane • said...

An elk in the city! I love it!! The traffic does add a priceless touch to it. It adds to its anachronism.

duopastorale said...

He is very majestic!

Ming the Merciless said...

Love your comparison of horses vs. horse powers. Brilliant analogy. :-)

CaBaCuRl said...

'Majestic' was the word i was about to use too...I know nothing about elk, so will pay a visit to Wikipedia. Your autumn leaves photos are magnificent...love your use of colour too, whether intentional or not!

Lavenderlady said...

it's a beautiful elk.

NorthBayPhoto said...

Very pretty photos of the statue. A wonderful war memorial.

Thanks for visiting my NorthBayPhoto blog.

Clueless in Boston said...

A downtown elk. I love it. It's a great looking statue.

You know whenever I hear of elk it always reminds me of the Monty Python sketch.

smilnsigh said...

A beautiful statue/fountain and I love the story, behind it! Spots like this are "the best," aren't they? Spots, with a history attached. So nice to make sure that the history, is not lost.

Mari-Nanci
Photos-City-Mine