Monday, October 22, 2007

Great Leaf Moments, A Series, I

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You're looking west. This is the intersection of West Burnside and NW 23rd Avenue, to the right, and SW Vista to the left. To get you oriented to previous posts, I could have turned around after I took last week's photo looking east down Burnside, the one that showed you Jim Fisher Volvo and the trianglular building, and seen this intersection. I didn't take this one right after the other one, though, because the sun wasn't up enough to do the leaves justice.

On Oct. 13, after Mama, Duncan and I got into the car, this is the first photo from our tour of the neighborhood. One week later, the first tree in the row alongside Burnside, the one right above the white van, had lost every single leaf. Like I said, it's been raining and blowing a good bit. Within weeks, leaf-less limbs will branch out from trunk after trunk all over the city, so I'm embarking on a series of sorts to share this beauty with you, in a rush with nature I suppose you could say.

The small brick building on the left houses a State Farm Insurance office. Across from it you can see a sign that reads Zupans--that's a nice high-end grocery store. Up the hill to the left you see a pale building with many windows and the word Envoy top center. Here's a bit from the Web: "The Historic Envoy, built in the 1920's, has been renovated to its original charm and converted to condominiums. Units feature vintage hardwood floors, paned windows and covered off-street parking. Many have city and mountain views." The few I found for sale are in the $330,000 plus range, even the one bedroom. Y'all are beginning to understand why Mama and I happily rent, right?

An hour or so later after driving the twisting and turning roads above our neighborhood to the west, we've stopped on NW 23rd Avenue, waiting to cross West Burnside, so that we can take SW Vista up into another part of the hills. Burnside divides Portland into north and south, hence the direction change for the streets. Some but not all streets also change names, like at this particular intersection. Here's the corner from another angle.

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After driving up Vista and making a couple of right hand turns, plus stopping to take a few photos from a stairway hanging on the side of a steep hill--or at least that's how it seemed to me, the one with a pronounced fear of heights--we arrived at the intersection one last time.

You can see from this photo how steep Vista is as it heads south from Burnside. It gets even steeper very quickly. My goal is to be able to walk up it so that I can go to the Vista Bridge and take photos from the 120 foot tall bridge--there's no where nearby to park, so why not? Well, to tell you the truth, it will be scary as all get out, as we say in the South, but I'm going to do it because I want to take photos from it. This photo-blogging is positively changing my life.

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22 comments:

Fénix - Bostonscapes said...

Great post! Beautiful, Lynette, just beautiful. :)

~tanty~ said...

Oh, look at the colorful trees there. So beautiful. I love autumn colors.

duopastorale said...

Those colours are stunning. Thanks for posting.

The rents here in London are actually more than the cost of a mortgage. $330,000 actually sounds cheap; we have to pay that in GBP.

TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO said...

What an amazing colour...so vibrant! Autumn is well and truly here!

dot said...

How pretty! Those trees really stand out. I'll be waiting for pictures from the top of that bridge. Go Lynette, Go!!

smilnsigh said...

Beautiful photos of an oh-so-short time of seasonal beauty.

You said it so well... Embarking on a series, to share the beauty, while in a rush with nature. That says so well, what a lot of us are doing, at this time of year!

I also love it! You who have a fear of heights {me too!}... Your aim is to get to the spot, for taking a picture you want! Go you!

I love it, your saying that photo-blogging has changed your life. We can't ask for any more than that, can we? :-)

Mari-Nanci
Photos-City-Mine

NorthBayPhoto said...

Fantastic post! Great photo of the very colourful trees!

Thanks for visiting my NorthBayPhoto blog.

Anonymous said...

As much as I love my scenery here in palm-tree paradise, I do miss the changing leaves. Thanks for the nice post.

Sharon said...

How beautiful!

WendyB said...

Ha ha! Glad I could help with a post title.

Andrea said...

This is a great post. The pictures are breath taking with the bright, colorful trees. This are beautiful fall pictures.

Lori said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day! It looks like you have some beautiful fall color out there. Those trees are gorgeous! Our trees are just starting to turn colors but I haven't seen any as vibrant as these.

Felicia said...

I can't wait to see the view from the bridge. I'm glad you are not driving and take photos from the bridge!

Neva said...

Boy, do you take a beautiful fall tree picture! This is a wonderful view isn't it? and yes I can see why you rent!! My friend is in Portland moving her daughter into her first house.....it was no where near as expensive!!!!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Wonderful photos! Love all them!

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

beautiful!!!

Janet said...

Thanks for sharing these gorgeous autumn colors!

www.photo-effe.com said...

wonderful automn shots, the red colours of this trees is impressive

Halcyon said...

Oh my gosh! Those red trees are beautiful. They almost don't even look real! It's amazing the beauty nature can produce.

Anonymous said...

Loving the flaming trees! (I wasn't swearing :D)

joy
Norwich Daily Photo

Denton said...

My favorite leaf photo from your series is the first one you posted today. I like how it shows the street and the buildings.

• Eliane • said...

You are killing me with your leaves. Gorgeous! :)