Merry Christmas from Portland's Living Room to yours

Portland's Christmas tree proudly stands in the middle of Pioneer Courthouse Square, just feet west of the Mile Post Sign. Since the post points in all directions, I decided what better image to use to convey my Christmas wishes for you and yours, wherever you call home.

Seen at a MAX stop

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Crowded corner. Lots of folks attempt to enter what appears to be an already stuffed MAX car. You can see the front view of a ticket kiosk, seen from its side in yesterday's post.  

 

Crowded car and sidewalk. One can't help but notice the ads on these two MAX light rail train cars for America's Builder, D R Horton, PDX. I Googled and found they still have a Web site, so I guess the recession didn't kill off their business. 

I took these photos on November 23, 2007, the day after Thanksgiving. I think it is so cool that I managed to get a single man pretty much in focus in each photo because people were going every which way. After work, I had watched the lighting of the Christmas tree at Pioneer Courthouse Square, then decided to make my way to the bus stop a few blocks away. As I approached the corner of SW Morrison and SW Broadway, I couldn't resist taking these two photos of the packed MAX train about to leave the Square. I'm always amazed at the number of shoulder-to-shoulder faces I see in one of these cars after some sort of well-attended event, like this one at Pioneer Courthouse Square or an NBA basketball game at Rose Garden Arena. Let me tell you, I alway feel so thankful that I do not have to ride a packed MAX train to get home!

Did you notice on the sign in the top photo that you could catch the Blue, Red or Yellow Lines at this stop which is westbound and located on the north side of the Square? (If you look closely, you'll be able to see the yellow circle beside the blue and red ones at the top of the sign.) Back in 2007, the Yellow Line left this top, went a few blocks, then looped south for a block and came back east, passing the Square on its south end before heading northeast out of downtown. Nowadays, the Yellow Line heads northeast from the eastern end of the Square. 

Framed for Christmas, No. 1

Portland's Christmas tree, December 17, 2010. The Jackson Tower in the background looks so great, all outlined in white and with the green light on the clock. Yes, you do see a tent on Pioneer Courthouse Square--it's busy all of the time. And over to the left, that's KGW's The Studio on the Square. Do you like these white lights and the gold star more than the multi-colored lights and the white star? I can't get the link-thing-a-ma-jig to work, but there's a photo of the other tree, which is the current lighting configuration, on the Friday, December 7, post.

I've put frames on some of my Christmas photos because I wanted to print them to display as part of the decorations I have in my work cube. I've decided to share some of them with y'all.

Portland's Christmas Tree, Seen at Pioneer Courthouse Square

No rain meant some folks were out and about at Pioneer Courthouse Square, having their photo taken in front of the beautifully lit Christmas tree after work Wednesday evening. I'm still not thrilled with my photos of the tree, though, so I hope to return and try again, maybe this weekend. I'll have to pay attention to the weather report and make a plan. I soon as I typed "make a plan," this entered my mind: There is a Blazers' game Saturday evening at 7 p.m.--if it's not raining too hard, I could head downtown early enough to take a few photos, certainly from a different perspective. Then I can catch the MAX right there across the street in front of the courthouse.

Seen at Pioneer Courthouse Square

After work on November 16, I had some time to spare before catching the MAX to the Rose Garden for a basketball game. I noticed these two men installing the Christmas tree topper. Cool.



The scene at the bottom of the tree--that greenery is what was left of the fill-in greenery. I didn't get any photos of that process this year.

 

Here are some guys working on fill-in greenery on November 15, 2008.

I have yet to get a photo of the lighted tree--the Friday after Thanksgiving a huge crowd gathered beneath their umbrellas in a downpour, waiting for the magical moment. I know because I saw them from the bus window as I went by on my way to the Rose Garden for a basketball game.

 

The entire week after Thanksgiving the tree was surrounded by white tents set-up to keep dry those who came to the Holiday Ale Festival. I took this photo with the iPhone4 while waiting for the bus home on November 28. Sorry, blurry, but you get the idea.

This duo got the stamp of approval from everyone at Tuba Christmas, ...

... well, everyone who had the opportunity to see the Gingerbread (Wo)Man and the Christmas Tree and get a candy cane from the basket. I imagine the two of them were quite happy to be encased in decorative costumes, as long as they had on some longhandles to keep them warm. You can tell from the children's winter wear, as well as everyone else in the crowd behind the holiday duo, just how cold it was on Saturday, December 10, in downtown Portland at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

My wish for you ...

Portland's Christmas Tree, my last two photos of it in 2008

Right after I took each photo, I caught a MAX train at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Thank goodness! I got closer to home that way which meant fewer blocks to walk on these two days.

Dec. 26, 2008

Dec. 22, 2008

Christmas Tree Lighting, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Nov 28, 2008

The beautiful result of lots and lots of hours of work and the flip of a switch. Now for the story, as I experienced it.

Darkness all around. Only the ambient light from traffic signals and stores across the street lit the area. People everywhere. Walking, pushing strollers, looking for the best spot to witness the spectacle when the Christmas tree's lights came on. Twined throughout the 75-foot tall Douglas Fir, two and a half miles of lights, 15,000 energy-efficient LED bulbs in all. I took this photo the split second the countdown from 10 to 1 ended.

Two seconds later I took this photo, my third shot--the second one had the back of a man's head in it. You can see that the lights also appeared on the Jackson Tower. The streak of light at the top of the tree is on the Fox Tower, and it was on the entire time. I like the way it resembles a comet, frozen in the night sky.

Stimson Lumber donated the tree; Globe Lighting donated the bulbs, ones they say will use 91 percent less energy and last for 10 to 15 years. As soon as I could move, in a crowd estimated at 10,000, I made my way south in order to get another photo, without the Fox Tower in the background.

Then I walked east, across SW 6th Avenue, for more photos. In this one, you can see the lights strung in a tree on the sidewalk and the streetlights, too, plus some of the crowd.

Something I really enjoyed happened while I stood on the sidewalk, deciding whether to walk to the bus or ride the MAX. First, I offered to take a photo of a young couple and their child, riding on her dad's back in a carrier. Next a young couple asked me to get their photo, too. And in a few moments, two young girls asked the same thing. Smiles all around. I'm smiling, too, at this next photo of the lighted tree.

After riding the MAX, then the bus home, hours later I saw the lighting ceremony at 11 p.m. on News Channel 8 KGW, our NBC affiliate, and noticed that all of the lights in the trees around the square came on, too, as did the street lights. The helicopter got a fantastic shot of the darkness, then the lights appearing almost simultaneously. It was a brilliant moment.