And now, we return to Wood Village Nite Out, July 17, 2009

Here's the start of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office SWAT demonstration. The smoke is from a device they set off, with a rather loud bang and then the smoke. The announcer said it's often used to hide their approach.



The "bad guy" driver is quickly dealt with by two team members. Notice the Coast Guard helicopter pilots in the background? They certainly had a neat perspective.



And the K9 deputy and his handler take care of the "bad guy" passenger.



We'd just been told to watch for a demonstration of two sorts of guns, thus the tarp to be placed beneath the derelict automobile. Love the responsibility--no glass in the grass for this guy!



This first gun shot rubber bullets, I believe. I don't know if that was just for the demonstration or if that's all it ever shoots.



Flying glass!



Hey, y'all SWAT out there! What is that blue sphere? Did I get a rubber bullet in flight?



The second gun--I think it's shooting bean bags. Must not be very large ones. I wonder the same thing about this gun, too. Does it only shoot bean bags?



Did the job, though!



I know, enough already with the shattering glass. I can't help it, I like to see what action the camera caught.

Bentley, Bentley, what happened to your glasses?

I photographed this gorgeous automobile at almost the end of the detailing process, hence the missing headlight glass so that the deed could be completed professionally.


Thanks to Details by Mark, next door to Bright Auto Upholstery on SE 6th Avenue!


See what I mean? What a shine!


Sweet whitewalls!

Would that I could imbibe a second Pimms Centre Court.

"Prepare me one, oh 3 Doors Down bartender," I exhort!
"Surely the Pimms, cucumber vodka, cane syrup, lemon & a splash of soda libation
"Would do much to ease my mind and cure this heat-induced perspiration!"

Ain't that a gorgeous-looking drink?

3 Doors Down Cafe co-owner Kay Bergin said, "Summer on a plate," when she placed the potato gnocchi with succotash on my table--she was oh, so right!

I'm here to tell you that the Pimms Centre Court is pure-T summer in a glass!

Oh, by the way, it was 106 degrees in Portland on Tuesday, one degree off the record. And Wednesday's predicted to be even hotter. We persevere!

Would that I could lose myself in the water drop...

...'cause here in Portland it's so dart hot!


We've got an excessive heat warning from noon Monday through 10 p.m. Wednesday. It's the real thing.

Special, created with skill, precision, and love

Grilled, house-made, boudin blanc sausage, creamed corn & sweet onions, from 3 Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and SE Hawthorne, which is right where I headed last Friday after leaving Wood Village Nite Out.

Surely this photo ought to be in Webster's beside the definition for succulent, the adjective: full of juice, juicy; moist and tasty, toothsome; as in a succulent meal.

Amen. Boudin blanc created by Dave Marth, chef/owner of 3DD.

Hi, Dave.




Leland carved these spoons! He gave them to Mama and me for Mother's Day. Sweet.

Potato gnocchi with Fava bean succotash, my other appetizer, prepared by none other than Flash, line cook, situated right beside my New Old Fashioned--house-made dried maraschino cherries, muddles orange, Angostura bitters, sugar and bourbon.

I made sure I had several glasses of water before ordering the alcoholic beverage, plus I knew Leland would be driving me on home.

What a perfect night!

By the numbers, Wood Village Nite Out, No. 2

For the next part of my Friday night fun, I'll share some of the K-9 demonstrations. I used Google to try to find out facts about each dog, using their photos to help me. Plus I remember that the deputy sheriff announcing called the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office dogs deputies and the Lake Oswego Police Department's dog officer. While I found photos and names for both of the Sheriff's dogs, I couldn't find one of the Lake Oswego dog. I did remember that his name started with a C, so I think he's Charger. The solid black dog is Varro and the dog with the fluffy coat is Ryker.

Here's each dog. I had a time deciding which ones to show of each one. Those I picked show the dogs doing different things to accomplish the task, find and stop the deputy playing the bad guy.

I can't remember what this was called, but I think it was for Varro to close-in on the deputy/bad guy and keep him stopped in his tracks. Varro stealthily approaches.

Wouldn't you like to know what he's saying to his partner?

The deputy/bad guy decided to move. Bad idea.

Ryker had stared down the deputy/bad guy and had him standing with his hands up right before this photo. You can tell that the deputy/bad guy has decided to step between the K9 deputy and his handler. Ryker reacted instantly.


Charger, Lake Oswego Police Department, takes off after a deputy/bad guy who was hiding in a refrigerator box, completely out of sight.


From that first photo of Charger, you can tell he's fast! The second time he came off the lead, he quickly caught the deputy/bad guy.

By the numbers, Wood Village Nite Out, No. 1

Known across the country as National Night Out, America's Night Out Against Crime arrives on August 4. However, I learned through the newspaper that nearby Wood Village, Oregon, a city that covers .9 square miles and is way out east from my usual Portland haunts--past Gresham and Fairview and before Troutdale--would celebrate on Friday, July 17, 2009. An impressive list of planned activities beckoned me and my camera to venture east in Multnomah County.

After 530 photos taken of activities at Wood Village Nite Out, four hours walking about and/or standing in the sun-filled, mid-90s evening, three memory cards filled, three bites of a hot dog, two bottles of water consumed, two Multnomah County Sheriff's Office K-9 demonstrations, two Lake Oswego K-9 Demonstrations, one bottle of kiwi-strawberry Propel consumed, one Shasta orange soda consumed, one Multnomah County Sheriff's Office SWAT demonstration, one US Coast Guard helicopter landing, one emergency vehicle parade--as you well know I could go on and on and on--I sat myself down in the Buick and drove away from fun-filled Wood Village, Oregon.

To say that I felt hot, sweaty and satisfied would be the truth. To say that I didn't care that I would get to 3 Doors Down Cafe an hour earlier than I had planned would be the truth. That meant I could relax, drink some water and eat some tasty food. And that's exactly what I did, plus I added one new-fangled Old Fashioned for good measure. After all, Leland drove me on home.

Let's begin with some vehicles from the parade.




The Multnomah County Sheriff is in the first car. His name, Sheriff Skipper, is on the back door.






How about this vintage Multnomah County Sheriff's vehicle? A Ford--I don't know the year, but I love this car!



Unfortunately, this piece of equipment probably gets way too much use.



With the Willamette and Columbia Rivers surrounding Portland, we often hear on the news that a dive team has been called out. The van must be how they get wherever they are needed.



Here's the Gresham Fire Department truck, complete with a clown waving to people along the street. I love a parade!






Well-used, heavily-forested mountains are in every direction you can go from Portland. We hear even more often about Search and Rescue operations on the TV news.



I Googled AMR Reach and Treat Portland Oregon and found out this is a very busy rescue branch, too.



I didn't know the Sheriff had motorcycles. I've only seen Portland Police on motorcycles. Well, to tell you the truth, I've only seen a motorcycle policeman in line at the Burger King, getting his lunch, still wearing his rather large white helmet. I bet he's got to be ready to go on a moment's notice. Wonder if there's a radio in the helmet?

That's it for the parade--not all that was there but all I'm posting.

The Yellow Impala, 1964, 4-door, seen on NE Glisan

I circled the block, well a couple of blocks, to get this photo. I used Picnik to auto-fix the color, crop and resize it. How do you think it turned out?

I wasn't the only one who enjoyed Wood Village, Oregon's Nite Out, Friday, July 17, 2009

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You know how it is. You take picture after picture, yet you know not what you've got. Until.

She circled and circled the fountain ...

... joyously sprayed by the Salmon Springs Fountain.







... joyously spreading smiles.

In honor of "So You Think You Can Dance" and "America's Got Talent," here's our Kailey ...

... at Dancesation at Milwaukie High School, last January. As part of a fund raiser for the elementary and junior high school dance teams, alumni came back to perform. Mama, Leland, Marsha and I, plus Kailey's family and friends thoroughly enjoyed their dance.

If you're new to the blog, Kailey is my younger son Leland's sweetheart.

Romance, seen from our living room windows, an unusual sight on NW 22nd

Yep, it's a TriMet bus, the 15 to be exact, as you can tell from the sign atop its windshield--Belmont/23rd means it's the bus that goes from NW 23rd across the river to SE Belmont.

Back story. We heard a news story on KGW Channel 8, explaining that from at least 7 p.m. on until we knew not when NW 23rd would be closed between Hoyt and Irving for a street event centered around Escape from New York Pizza.

Hence we soon began to hear the distinctive, memory-inducing squwish, whoosh, sound signaling the release of brakes and the diesel-infused acceleration of a 12-ton bus heading north, first right outside the living room windows above NW 22nd. Then we heard the deceleration of the southbound bus, the squeak of the engaging brakes, followed by the beep-beep-beep of the kneeling bus. Kneeling? At the corner of NW 22nd and NW Everett? I quickly looked down from our 4th floor window and saw an older woman walking west, away from the stopped bus. Yep, the driver had pushed the button that makes the door-side of the bus lower itself a few inches which makes for an easier exit--or entrance--for older persons, disabled persons. Oh, and there's a ramp that folds out and sits itself onto the sidewalk for wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, and those wire baskets you can fill up with groceries, etc.

So, why in the world you're wondering would I get a photo of one of the buses that went south over the next few hours? Why would I be so excited about having buses outside our windows? Believe me, Mama was wondering about it, especially as we kept hearing the squeak, the squwish, the whoosh, and the acceleration and deceleration. She said more than once, "I'm glad we don't have this outside every day."

Here's what excited me, the fact that changing from one street to another parallel one causes not a single ripple in the functioning of TriMet. I didn't go out on NW 23rd to look, but I can just about guarantee that TriMet had signs and/or employees at the regular bus stops on NW 23rd, telling folks to go east one block to board their bus.

It's so Portland to be able to adapt to changing circumstances like this, like when the bridges have to lift for river traffic, like the upcoming Providence Bridge Pedal when folks can choose to ride their bikes on 11 bridges that cross the Willamette in Portland because lanes will be closed to vehicle traffic--you could ride across fewer bridges or walk across two of them, I could go on and on.

These changes are not your run-of-the-mill construction-induced changes. Don't get me wrong, those are here just like everywhere else. But to me these so-Portland-changes brim with romance and make me fall even more for this city I've now called home for three years.

Meet Ginger, Kailey's Pomeranian

She came with Leland in the Buick one day, to pick me up after work. We went to the apartment so that Ginger could stay with Duncan and Mama while we shopped at Fred Meyer.


Ginger's favorite place to ride in the car when Leland's driving.

Or when Leland's a passenger--I pointed the camera over my shoulder and got this photo. Neat!



She's a precious, tiny, ball of fluff and energy. Duncan's not too sure what to make of her energy.