Framed for Christmas, No. 8

Merry Christmas, y'all, from Flat Chris--thanks to Chris' teacher, my friend Tonya, I now have his name correct--and Duncan, the darlin' dachshund! I took this photo on December 22, 2007, back when Mama and I had only been in Portland about a year and a half. We loved our apartment, being in the same city with my sons, and Portland itself.

By the way, that little blue scooter, a Barbie scooter which I had bought at some point at the local Goodwill, turned out to be just what Flat Chris needed to be able to stand up as he was out and about with Mama and me. Cool! And get this. The Monday after I had been looking through my Christmas photos and deciding which ones to print and then post in my work cube, a work friend came by and said, "I dreamed about you last night. You were on a baby blue motor scooter, wearing a matching outfit. You didn't have on your helmet; it was on the seat behind you. You pulled away with a matching blue scarf flying out from around your neck. I have no idea why I dreamed such a thing." When I proceeded to explain to her that I'd been looking at photos that same night, lots of photos with a baby blue scooter in them, we both got chills. She walked back to my cube, at my suggestion, to look at this photo, then returned to where I was relieving the Front Desk worker and exclaimed, "That's the scooter I saw you on in my dream!" More chills.

Framed for Christmas, No. 7

Merry Christmas greetings from December 22, 2007. Here you have Purq (the purple and turquoise papier-mâché cat), Cow-Dog (the brown papier-mâché dog whose creator could never remember if he was making a cow or a dog), and Flat Stanley. Or was he Flat Chris? I cannot remember, and it's too late at night to be looking at my blog from back then to find out for sure.

What it boils down to is that the two lovely papier-mâché critters were created by patients at the Mississippi State Hospital and were sold at a stupendous yearly silent auction known as Serendipity. Rest assured, I hovered until I had the winning bid for these two and lots more art that I hold dear.

The little guy wearing the green and black polka dot tie with his dress shirt and slacks came to me from a teacher friend of mine back in Mississippi who had her second grade class--I think it was second grade--mail drawings of themselves to friends/relatives who lived in another place so that they could vicariously experience elsewhere through photos and text that said friends/relatives would create and mail back to the students. One little guy said, "I ain't got nobody to send my Flat Stanley." So, she asked me to help out. Naturally, I jumped at the chance, totally thrilled. Mama and I had lots of fun "taking" him all over Portland and the metropolitan area. Oh, the reindeer antlers are mine. I sewed and/or glued all of those colorful items--including the medallion with my Christmas wish for you on it--to the antlers in order to spiff them up a bit. The night I took this photo, I was bound and determined to get a photo where I looked like Cow-Dog was wearing the antlers. I love it when a plan comes together.

Our golden boy has flown home.

Flat Stanley flew to Mississippi today with Kay. He'll be back in school soon. Good-bye, FS!

Flat Stanley at Multnomah Falls

Walking back to the car, we had to cross underneath the railroad tracks. Just as we approached a train whizzed by over our heads. Flat Stanley got a kick out of that, let me tell you! So did I. Here you see all of the engines and the last cars. This train is speeding west, toward the left of the screen, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. On the northern side of the Columbia River is the state of Washington. This is the direction that Lewis and Clark went as they explored the Gorge.

Flat Stanley and a Mama Setback

Flat Stanley heard that it snowed back home in Mississippi, so he wanted me to go ahead and post this photo I took one morning this week, about 7:30 a.m. It's not snow, though; it's frost on the roof of the Buick.

Friday morning when Mama woke up at Mt. Tabor, she was nauseous and vomiting. It was a few hours before they could get an order for compazine for that, so she spent quite a bit of time being miserable. However, over in the late afternoon she was letting ice chips melt in her mouth and didn't appear to be dehydrated. This morning her condition was the same, even after a second compazine, and her blood pressure quite high. I asked the nurse to call her doctor, and the neurologist was the one she got in contact with by phone. That doctor told Mt. Tabor to send Mama back to the hospital which they did. She's been admitted again and is a hundred percent miserable at best. In the ER she kept saying that her eyes were swimming around in her head, and even after two doses of one nausea med and two doses of another nausea med, she felt no better.

My brother Howard and I are in her room now, waiting to see a doctor, we hope. His plane landed about 12:20 a.m. this morning, I made one wrong turn on the way back to the apartment but corrected our route quickly and got us over to the guys for a short visit with Lamont and Lindsay--Leland was sound asleep. Lindsay herself didn't feel well, and threw up,off and on all night but did feel some better about 3:30 p.m. today.

Before all of this happened, Howard, Lamont, Leland had planned to eat brunch at the Bijou Cafe, one of mine and Mama's favorite places to eat which we discovered with the help of the guys back in the summer of 2004. I made the decision that we ought to eat there and then to to the ER because otherwise we could be in a real bind, energy-wise. Thank goodness I did because we ate around 11:15 a.m. and it's now eight hours later. We're talking about supper out at the Helvetia Tavern, after we see the doctor. That meal we had at the Bijou was as good as it always is. I don't know exactly what they had, but I had a short stack of buttermilk pancakes and some apple pear compote with whipped cream. I needed that great tasting comfort food, let me tell you. Plus, Howard and I walked from the apartment to the cafe, through mist, rain, small hail and mist again--all in a mile and a third. It felt splendid to be walking, especially with my brother!

Speaking of the doctor, when Mama was being transported into her room, I saw Dr. Kendall, her primary medical doctor from her other admission. He was surprised and sad to see her back so quickly and in such a state. He said maybe we would have to go with one or both of the other procedures on her blood vessels. He said that he would make sure whoever would take care of her over the weekend would know all about her.

Just now another young doctor came in to ask some questions and check her out. She told us that she had talked with the partner of the cardiovascular surgeon who had consulted with the other doctors for the last two weeks. It appears at this time that Mama will have something done with her carotids, then the bypass. I don't know myself how her little body will take all of this, but as she is right now, totally miserable, she would say "Go for it" if she felt like talking. This doctor had no specific time frame, but she said that more than likely someone from cardiovascular would see her tomorrow. I'm hoping that the man who did the left subclavian stent will see her tomorrow, too. That way maybe they could do this on Monday. Who knows.

All of her stuff that I took to Mt. Tabor, clothes, toiletries, framed photos, etc. is being kept there until I can get it tomorrow. Thank goodness. I can go get it while Howard is here with Mama, waiting for doctors to appear out of the mist. Sorry, but it does seem to take an awful long time for them to appear sometimes.

Anyway, we're going to eat supper. Time passed--we ate well at Helvetia Tavern--Duncan's been walked and bathed. He and Howard are dozing on the couch. We're all going to bed after the weather forecast. Oh, my,it's predicted to be 20 degrees Monday night. On another channel, it's predicted to be 25 degrees Monday night. Either way, it sounds cold.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Mama Update, and Flat Stanley Enjoys the Stump Art

Mama was admitted to the hospital about midnight, after several hours in the ER, a CT scan, and some nausea/vertigo meds. Today she's had an MRI and an ultrasound of one carotid artery--it just so happened that she had the test scheduled for 2 p.m. today, so they went ahead and did it as an in-patient procedure. The neurologists' think what's going on is something called a subclavian steal syndrome which, as I understand it, means that the left side blood vessel's narrower than it should be, for some reason, and then it takes blood from where it's supposed to go from the right side's blood vessel. All of this adds up to not enough blood to her brain which is causing the vertigo and nausea. So, she's looking at surgery--we don't know when yet because we haven't seen the surgeon yet. She's feeling better with the help of anti-nausea drugs right now and is in decent spirits. She's absolutely amazing.

On December 29, I happened to remember that Flat Stanley hadn't seen the stump art yet, so I made it a point to drive through Ladd's Addition even though it was raining softly. You can tell by the big grin on his face how excited he was to see all of those little toys rounded up on the stump. I'm glad I was able to hold him up high for this photo.


I don't know all of these toys' identification; neither did Flat Stanley. We do like the photo below with someone I think might be the Hunchback of Notre Dame holding up the baby to that individual with the white wings. In those other photos from September, on yesterday's post, there was a blue bird on the nest instead--I believe it's now on the stump to the left of the winged individual. We talked about the change from a bird to a baby and decided that it must have something to do with Christmas and the baby Jesus.


You can tell how much rain we'd been getting from this photo--just look at that mud all around the stump! By the way, do you think I'm being accurate in calling this a stump? Or is it too tall?

I can't say how long that "Please Don't Park Here" sign has been attached to the tree, although I do remember seeing it at some point earlier in 2007. Both times I saw it there, a vehicle had parked at the curb, either not seeing or choosing to ignore its entreaty.

Flat Stanley thought the ladder as well as the climbing toy make the whole thing even more interesting. I took this close-up of the climbing toy from the sidewalk, wanting to avoid getting squishy gray/black mud in the grooves of my birthday shoes, a swell-fitting pair of black Keens. When I downloaded the photo, I was tickled to see the nail in the tree and the drops of water on the toy. That nail makes me wonder what had been there, now long gone.


Remember the nun in the September '06 photos--she's standing over that fireman with the saw cutting through the tree limb on top of the pirate. How creative is that! Anyway, as you can tell in the photo below, the nun has ended up in the mud beside the tree trunk and some discarded holly branches. I couldn't step close enough to get a better photo than this. I hope the next time I get a chance to stop that the nun has been restored to her former position--I think I can still see the fireman in the last photo.


Don't you agree with me that you can see the fireman's head and shoulders and part of his black coat with its yellow collar? And is that a scuba diver to the left of him, a turquoise blue scuba diver, complete with an air tank and a mask?


Flat Stanley and I have looked back and forth, at the September '06 photos, then at the December '07 ones. We've decided that the dinosaur got truly tired of that basketball player using his mouth as a basket and flicked that guy completely outta sight. Or they could be buried in the mud at the foot of the stump, for all we know. We promise to try to get by there at least one more time before Flat Stanley heads home to Mississippi at some point in February.

I'm at the hospital, using their dial up Internet. Thank goodness they have it! I cannot get my Gmail account to open, but I can do this which is a great big plus for me.

Happy New Year!

Duncan, Cow-Dog, Purq and Flat Stanley might look like a quartet of wall flowers here in Duncan's chair. I assure you, they're actually a quartet of cool, party cats, even if Purq is the only real cat! They graciously agreed to pose for our warmest and best wishes for y'all to have a fun, safe New Year's Eve and a great 2008!

Our Happy Holidays' Photo Shoot for Y'all

Flat Stanley and Duncan wish one and all a Merry Christmas, from the comfort of Duncan's pine green rocker.


Now, for the first time, meet two more of our loved ones. First on the left is Purq (pronounced Perk), our purple and turquoise cat. In the middle is Cow-Dog, whose creator repeated this question while fashioning him, "Am I making a cow or a dog?" And, of course, on the right is our well-loved, lucky boy, Flat Stanley himself. The guys are wishing you a Merry Christmas, from all of us here in Portland.



For a bit of levity, I thought I'd share this one with you, too. Duncan, our darling dachshund, couldn't stay still long enough to get a shot with all four of them. He sniffed at Purq and Cow-Dog, upsetting the precarious balance of Flat Stanley's Vespa, and decided it was now time to leave the pillow-filled armchair. I caught him before he could jump!


Let me say that I can't think of a better present for myself than the CDPB and all who post there. It's been an inspiration to me to visit as many cities as possible, to see the evidence of your love for where you live. I believe in what you're doing, for so many, many reasons. Thank you.

Finally, I must say, "Go Beavers! Go Ducks! Go Trail Blazers! (in alphabetical order). And most of all, GO DAWGS! (as in my beloved Mississippi State Bulldogs)."

Riding the Streetcar

Although I took this photo of the Portland Streetcar back in October, I wanted you to see this particular stop, at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital, so that you would know what the streetcar looks like and where Mama and I recently caught it.

On a good weather day, we could have walked the eight blocks. A couple of Mondays ago we knew it would be raining, maybe hard, but we still made the decision to go to her eye doctor appointment using only mass transit. People do it all the time in Portland--one of my bus buddies has not owned a car since 1976!

We boarded a 15 bus in front of the Goodwill Store on West Burnside, a block and a half south of us, but uphill all the way. The bus turned north on NW 23rd Avenue, and we rode downhill all the way to Lovejoy, where we got off and quick-stepped on a totally level sidewalk (thank goodness) to catch a waiting South Waterfront streetcar.



Naturally Flat Stanley accompanied us--he'd never been on a streetcar and was curious about how it compared to a TriMet bus. You can read all about the Portland Streetcar here. Flat Stanley himself was particularly pleased to read the section about bringing your bike onto the streetcar, just in case he ever decides to trade in his Vespa for a bicycle.

As you can tell, Mama got a kick out of Flat Stanley's sitting all by himself in the seat beside her. Since it was raining pretty hard, Mama had taken off her eyeglasses and put them into her pocket. She's holding tightly onto my somewhat water-resistant tote bag. I carry it in a downpour rather than my rolling bag because I can't figure out how to keep the rolling bag from getting drenched.



Did you notice those shiny spots on the floor? That's where rain dripped off people as they stood, waiting for their stop to come along. I'm surprised that the floor is that surface. It looks hazardous to me, but I don't particularly remember feeling unsafe.

We made it both directions without a hitch--riding the Portland Streetcar, braving the wind and rain--just like we'd lived up here all of our lives. We are Portlanders!

Flat Stanley helps make Christmas cookies

Flat Stanley lent moral support to Lindsay as she decorated dozens of Christmas cookies.



I need to apologize to Lindsay for cutting off her head in this photo, but getting FS in focus sometimes means a sacrifice, especially when the little guy's had some sugar. Believe it or not, he's quick!

ABC Wednesday – U is for under U 4 men

Check out the designer underwear and swimwear at Under U 4 Men, 507 SW Broadway, downtown Portland. I've not been in the store since the only men in my life are my two grown sons who have their own ideas about their underwear, and a 14-year-old miniature dachshund name Duncan who doesn't bother with underwear. Still and all, I couldn't pass up the perfect U photo, complete with Christmas balls and boughs of green.

Here's an article about the store from the Willamette Week (an alternative paper, one of Portland's multitude of free newspapers):

"Under Where? A new downtown store hopes to get in your drawers.

BY BYRON BECK | bbeck at wweek dot com
[November 29th, 2006] Is Portland, and the rest of the nation, ready for a Victoria's Secret for men?

Steven Lien thinks so.

I'm not surprised. Twenty years ago, I worked for the now 50-year-old Lien at his used sporting-goods store, Sports Exchange (it was where Spartacus now stands). I've always known Lien to be an astute retailer. He taught me the proper way to sell ski equipment—including a slightly improper way to fit ski boots on hot men—even though I'd never spent a day on the slopes. After I quit in '86, we lost contact; I'd heard he'd gone on to co-own a nightclub. So I was stunned last week when I strolled into a still under-construction shop downtown and found him behind the counter.

"Men's underwear is underrepresented in Oregon," Lien said when I asked him why he was opening a store devoted to the most intimate of apparels. "I thought I might make it into a Web-only-based business, but underwear is tactile. I needed to open a brick-and-mortar shop."

That's what he and his partner, Larry Laughead, have done with Under U 4 Men.

Located just steps from Jane's Vanity, an upscale lingerie women's outlet, Under U 4 Men features men's unmentionables from cool vendors like C-IN2 and Ginch Gonch (QW, April 26, 2006) in fabrics from bamboo, hemp, soy and milk, priced from $12 to $45. It also features live male models in their skivvies on two different platforms (Lien trolled Craigslist for candidates) and scantily clad shop workers.

Is Lien pouring thousands of dollars into this venture just to see men in the buff, or is this just the ultimate dream sequence from Sex and the City? Well, neither.

Lien says he's spent two years researching the market, and he believes now's the time for a Victor's Secret. Only in the past decade, he says, has this men's-furnishings category gone beyond such stalwart basics as Hanes and Jockey—as well as once hot but now mainstream brands like Calvin Klein or Polo—to embrace more form-fitting gear. His hope is to open more stores in the near future, with plans of eventually going nationwide. For now though he'll focus on the downtown boutique. And it's interesting he chose downtown for his very first locale.

"Most men's underwear is bought by women," says Lien on why he and Laughead chose Southwest Broadway over Stark Street, or any other queer-centric thoroughfare that might be more accustomed to seeing nearly naked men through store windows. "That's why we didn't want it to be on Gay Street, U.S.A." To that end, Liens also doesn't plan on carrying thongs, jockstraps or other stripper-friendly items.

Still, this might be one of the sexiest stores to open in Portland. And it'll bring a new meaning to your holiday package."

Here's a photo I took the night after Thanksgiving when Flat Stanley and I had gone to Pioneer Courthouse Square for the Christmas tree lighting. See those people walking on the sidewalk on the right side of SW Broadway? They're almost in front of under U for men--it's the chartreuse-colored store, just past Marx Jewelers.

Flat Stanley wants you to meet someone.

Flat Stanley and I stopped by Fred Meyer after work today, to shop for deviled-egg-makings. Back at the bus stop on West Burnside, we settled in to wait a few minutes, standing beside the yellow metal newspaper box a few feet from the curb.

"Look!" Flat Stanley cried. "Look at that alien! Let's take a picture of me standing beside him 'cause I think the kids back in Florence, Mississippi, at Steen's Creek Elementary will get a kick out of that! I'll bet the CDPBers will, too! I'll bet we've got time before the next bus!"

He talked so fast that in just that few seconds I went from looking right, left, up and down, to unzipping my rolling bag and pulling out my camera. Somehow in all of that movement, I managed to find the alien on the top part of the newspaper box. Great idea, FS! Click, click--quickly--here comes the bus.

Back at the apartment, when he looked at the photo after I downloaded it, a thoughtful look came over Flat Stanley's face.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Where do you suppose the rest of his body went?" he said to me. "I'll bet he's got that look on his face 'cause he's wondering the same thing."

Then he looked and me said, "I know. Let's ask the CDPBers what they think happened to him."

Another great idea, FS.

North of the Hawthorne Bridge, you find the Morrison Bridge

Looking north from the Hawthorne Bridge you can see the Morrison Bridge.






Wikipedia: The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. ... The bridge is the largest mechanical device in Oregon. Thirty-six foot tall gears drive 940 ton counterweights located inside each of the piers. The 69 ft. clearance limits openings to about 30 times a month. It currently carries 50,000 vehicles daily on six lanes.



Wikipedia, continued: The canted windows of the control tower give each the distinctive look of air traffic control towers.



Flat Stanley thought he ought to give equal time to the Morrison Bridge, so here he is!

Flat Stanley visits Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Here's our guy Flat Stanley, out and about in October. Like most boys, he couldn't wait to take a look at the Willamette and its surroundings from the telescope with Point of View on its side. Y'all recognize the Hawthorne Bridge there behind him? It looks closer than it really is. See you tomorrow with the rest of the bridges.

Flat Stanley and the Christmas Tree Lighting at Pioneer Courthouse Square

We had a blast, watching people, singing carols, seeing the lights come on. Please look at Mama and Me from PDX for the rest of the story and a bunch of photos!

Flat Stanley visits the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, Oct. 28

Our second visit to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum started out as a serendipitous stop to take a photo of the vineyard out front because all of the vines had turned golden after the grapes had been picked. As we turned down the entrance road, something caught my eye, over near the front wall of the building.



"I think I see Stormtroopers!" I hollered. As we got closer to the building, I knew I saw stormtroopers walking towards the museum entrance. Quickly I parked. A speechless Flat Stanley and I barrelled out of the car, camera in hand, the trio of movie icons in our sights. You see the mark of our success in the photo! After thanking them profusely, Flat Stanley looked at me with stars in his eyes and said, "I'll never, ever, ever forget this!"





We walked over to where I had first noticed the trio and saw this display and banner. Flat Stanley just about couldn't believe it when he got to stand among the masks. I asked about the sheets and found out that they belong to a 30-year-old man. My sons used to have sheets just like those and probably wish that they still had them today. You can read about the 501st Legion, Cloud City Garrison here.





After calming down a bit, Flat Stanley and I decided that he could stand on this wing for a quick photo and a close-up of a Navy Blue Angels plane from yesteryear.



All of a sudden, this Hudson automobile, also from yesteryear, distracted us from the flying machines all around us. Flat Stanley and I agreed that the car is just as impressive as the aircraft.





Both of us like the looks of the camo-colored U. S. Airforce fighter jet. At least we think it is a fighter jet. We'll have to make another visit to the museum to get the facts on it, looks like.

Flat Stanley only rested on the wing of this plane and of the Blue Angels' plane for seconds, mere seconds, and therefore did not leave a mark on either one. He's proud of that fact.



As we walked back towards the Buick, I took this photo of a portion of the Spruce Goose. I hope that on our next visit we will finally make it inside the museum--I'll check ahead of time to make sure there are not private parties on that date, and Miss Edna, Flat Stanley and I will see this plane--and all of the others--up close and personal. In the meantime, you can read all about the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum here.



The beauty of this young gingko tree caught our eye. Beyond it you can see one of the planes that soldiers called Gooney Birds or Goonies during WWII. Even farther back, you see that orange circle? It's on the tip of the nose of a MIG. For more about them and other sights Flat Stanley enjoyed on his first visit to Evergreen, go to Mama and Me from PDX.



As we left the museum, Flat Stanley asked, "Could you get me a picture of the sign, please? I want to remember everything about this place that I've seen so far!"



By the way, here's the golden vineyard that caused us to pull off the highway at the museum for our unplanned but swell second visit.

Can't resist a second Saturday post, a la Flat Stanley!

Here's the little guy, among the Japanese lanterns at the Sweet Oregon Berry Company. See the rest of his fun at Mama and Me from PDX. I don't think there's a pumpkin in sight!

ABC Wednesday – P is for Pumpkin, Plus a Couple of Gourds

Flat Stanley purports these photos of primped and painted pumpkins present the perfect P post.



I couldn't keep the little guy away from this biker and his motorcyle.



Now, for the photos of Rasmussen Farms' creative pumpkins:



How's this for a perfect gourd-swan-transformation?



Godzilla walks again. Flat Stanley and I like the flames; they're on a wire perfectly positioned in front of the creature's mouth.



Elmo is in pefect tickle position.



Big Bird is the grandest gourd of all!



Grover has always been my favorite Sesame Street resident.



You can't get much more Halloween-y than vampires and bats, can you?



Well, he's wearing green and his face is green, but he doesn't look jolly to me, more like worn out and taking a rest.



Wild child Flat Stanley joins the Wild Thing Cave Men!



What's with the hair, Mr. Drummer Man?



Bad Hair Day explains it all. The lady in the beautician's chair appears quite calm. Perhaps it's because there's no mirror for her to see the mustachioed man as he approaches, comb and clippers in hand. What is that look on his face all about anyway?