Two photos from a swell Christmas Day!

Leland, Lamont, Lee, and Brody smiled as I took their photo because I made them chuckle when I hollered, "Festivities!" They repeated it, smiling all the while! Brody is Leland and Lamont's housemate; Lee works with them. Both guys are their good friends.
 

Rachel, Leland's sweetheart, graciously posed with me around my spur-of-the-moment Christmas decoration. One Sunday afternoon I had picked up the wooden tray from someone's parking strip on a nearby street--folks set items in front of their houses in the strip of grass between the curb and the sidewalk and intend for you to take it, if you like it. I liked this wooden tray with a divider and a handle. It dawned on me that I could put Christmas lights along the center divider and make a holiday spot in my apartment. I set various shiny, sparkly, Christmas decorations in there, too. Everyone agreed with me that it made a great stand in for a fireplace.

We were all so hungry that none of us even gave a second's thought to taking photos of the food I had cooked--pot roast with potatoes and carrots, fresh green beans, steamed broccoli, and homemade yeast rolls. Dessert--I baked a box of Duncan Hines Fudge Brownies and had bought a small pecan pie at Fred Meyer Monday evening when I shopped for this meal. No one wanted pie, and I sent the last four brownies home with the guys.

Framed for Christmas, No. 5

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Christmas lights, attached to the SP 4449 while she's still at home at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, waiting her turn to take part in the 2012 Holiday Express which ends today. I'm not riding this year, but I count myself blessed to have been able to visit her at the museum, to walk along her length and think about the intricate and impressive workings of this steam locomotive and the skills of those who care for her.

Look what I found in my neighborhood.

I'm of two minds about Christmas lights. First, I'm always happy to see them because they are so beautiful. Second, I'm always happy that putting them up and taking them down is someone else's chore because it's a tremendous amount of work.

When my husband was alive, we decorated our tree and around the living room windows. After he died and my sons were still little boys, I decorated the tree and around the windows. Several years after my Daddy died, I moved back in with my Mama (widows together enjoying the life left to us), and we decorated several different trees over the years and around our windows. My sons are out on their own, decorating as their lives lead them. Now I'm on my own, too. I have a little Department 56 tree, the sweetest item I've ever been fortunate enough to purchase at Goodwill, and a string of lights glowing on the cabinet top around it. Merry Christmas decorating, ol' 64-year-old-me style.

SW Morrison, downtown Portland, all lit up for the holidays

People waiting to cross the SW 10th as the MAX to Beaverton Transit Center pulls to a stop on SW Morrison, across the street form the Galleria, one of Portland's downtown terra cotta facade buildings. I took this photo on December 16, looking east, not too long after the Zipcar Christmas party where I left an unwrapped toy and spun the wheel for driving time--won $10--hooray. I enjoyed a thorough chat with a nice young Zipcar man whose name escapes me, all about the various sizes of nearby vehicles and whether or not we might be able to fit Mama's wheelchair into them.


Looking the same direction as the next MAX train approaches. It's easy to see why this stretch is one of my favorite holiday sights in Portland.


The lights on the trees continue to the west for another block.

Interesting facts in a reverse timeline, about the Galleria:
About $7,000,000 was spent on improvements in 2003.
In 1976, the Galleria won "Award of Merit" award from the AIA, Portland Chapter.
In 1978, the Galleria won the "First Honor Award" from the Downtown Development Award.
The upper floors were converted from retail space to offices during the mid-1980s.
Initially opened as the Olds, Wortman and King Department Store.
Naito Properties acquired the completely vacant structure in 1972.
The structure sits on top of a full-block site.
The building has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since February 20, 1991.
The local supervising architect was A. E. Doyle.
The third floor sky-bridge connects with the adjacent parking garage.
The Galleria was the first department store in the Northwest to take up an entire block.
It was erected in 1910. The interior was notable for a full interior atrium and grand staircase.

Hedonistic ride?

Walking from the bus to the MAX Friday evening, after a hedonistic few hours at 3 Doors Down Cafe, Marsha spied this holiday-themed motorcycle. "Look!" she cried. "Oh, I've got to take a picture of that!" I exclaimed and bent over to unzip the rolling black bag. Laughing congenially, she said, "Imagine that!" We laughed as I snapped this photo.

By the way, hedonism, according to Merriam-Webster Online, means the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. Yep, that was our entire evening, with a big ol' dose of well-deserved relaxation at the end of the work week.

Whizzing by the Willamette Building

See the slightly curved roof overhang above the double doors, on the right? If you look really close, you can read Willamette Building running across the front. Can you recognize the shape that the tiny white lights are on, standing up above the words? It's a giant diamond solitaire, made out of some sort of metal, but a diamond solitaire shape nonetheless. I've been wanting to show you that "rock" practically since I started Portland (OR) Daily Photo Blog in September.

I'll try to get a closer, better shot of the solitaire when it's not raining. Since the holidays are here, I figured why not go ahead and get a wide shot of the building, complete with Christmas lights, vehicles and pedestrians whizzing by on their way home from work. I'm tickled with how the photo turned out. All hail serendipity!

I first noticed the Willamette Building as I rode by on the bus one morning back in January, after the bus mall closed and my going-to-work bus went down SW 3rd Avenue before turning southeast to cross the river. I found a 2004 newspaper article about the Willamette Building that I think you'll enjoy reading. Turns out its right in the middle of Portland's diamond district.