So, it's raining in Portland. I still love the place.

In the Northwest Hills, all sorts of beautiful trees line the streets. This time of year, the leaves start to fall. When it rains hard enough to cause water to run in the streets, those leaves clump together and float to low places along the curbs and sidewalks. Drains become blocked. (Later on I'll show/explain how the City of Portland and Neighbors West Northwest deal with those leaves.) Look how the water rises into the air in a straight line. Is this an illustration for some sort of law of physics?

I think the drain must be clogged here, at the corner of NW 21st and Glisan, Tuesday about 5:30 p.m. I knew y'all would love to see the cars driving through the puddle that stretched from one corner half way out into the street. Slinging water, making ripples, the cars drove by every time the light changed. Safely out of range, I stood close to the Nob Hill Old Pharmacy Cafe, beneath a teensy little overhang, out of the rain, and snapped couple of shots. Look



It didn't rain all day long on Tuesday or Wednesday, just off and on, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. Wednesday evening while "Jeopardy" was on the TV, Mama and I heard hail hitting the windows on the east side of our apartment. I grabbed my CoolPix L12 and got this shot, though the screen and the closed window. You're looking at the streetlight on the corner; that's the Rose Plaza Apartments in the background. We heard it hailing for maybe two minutes, and the rain stopped in 10 minutes or so.