Pay attention. You could be missing something unqiue. Or have you already seen it so often that it is now ordinary?

Juggling at 4 p.m. on a June day in downtown Portland may not be that unique to some. Look at these people ignoring the man in the top hat plying his craft on SW 6th Avenue. I myself didn't notice him at first as I stood on the Broadway side of Pioneer Courthouse Square. The Festival of Flowers had drawn me to my viewpoint and kept me occupied until I caught a flash of one of his juggling pins as I moved the zoom on the camera. Ah, I thought. I must capture some of these seconds.



Moments later he uniquely caught the pin there on the bridge of his nose, yet no one across the street at the MAX stop even noticed. I wondered where he'd send it with a flick of his head.



Back to catch it on his heel? Then flip it elsewhere? I actually saw it on his heel for a second through the camera lens, but, alas, was unable to get a photo of it there or on its way up.



In front of him after arcing overhead, the pin joined the others in the routine as those pedestrians and folks waiting for the MAX only paid attention to their own private routines.



Then he returned to what I think of as standard, everyday juggling. I soon left myself to catch my bus home, part of my own workday routine. Thanks, juggler, for a moment of what was out of the ordinary for me in downtown Portland.

I scored a hat trick with these trifectas.

Thursday morning in between buses on my commute to work, I walked back over to Pioneer Courthouse Square to check how many flowers remained from the Flower Sale at the end of the Festival of Flowers. I couldn't resist taking a few photos. Here you see a few beauties with the Portland Hotel wrought iron arch in the background, added joy with the pedestrian's placement inside the arch. Then there's the TriMet bus heading north on SW 6th, part of the Portland Transit Mall.



And here's another photo. I wanted to share it because not only is there a TriMet bus, there's a MAX train, too, waiting at the traffic signal in just the right position to be seen through the arch.

Hat trick, three goals scored by the same person; trifecta--excuse my stretching this one--I took these photos with these items in the exact order that I predicted, once I realized what was happening right before I clicked the button on the camera. 1st, Festival of Flowers; 2nd, Portland Hotel wrought iron arch; 3rd, TriMet on the Portland Transit Mall.

Flower Sale Today

Flower buyers showed up at Pioneer Courthouse Square to stock up on the potted plants from this year's Festival of Flowers. Notice in the top right corner, a bit of the wrought iron arch seen in the post earlier this week about the Festival of Flowers.



Selections made, time to pay at the table set up beneath the EZ-Up canopy labeled Pioneer Courthouse Square Portland's Living Room.



I saw this lady with her box of flowers before I walked across the street to enter the square. I wonder if she had a car or if she was heading for a bus? I've seen people on the bus with flowers from the sale.



For some reason this banner really appealed to me. Is it the font? The colors? I don't know.



I walked to the west side of the square and stood on what I call the viewpoint which is above the door to the Visitor Information, also seen in the post earlier this week. Across the square, you see Pioneer Courthouse itself. In front of it, the two-car MAX train and a TriMet bus. That's SW 6th Avenue, the north-bound street that is part of the Portland Transit Mall. SW 5th is the southbound portion. The MAX Yellow, Green, and Orange Lines run north and south on the mall; the Red and Blue Lines cross it on the other two streets that make up Pioneer Courthouse Square--SW Yamhill and SW Morrison. Buses go through the mall, too, spreading out to all portions of the metropolitan area, across three counties. The Portland Transit Mall runs from NW Irving to SW Jackson; it's 1.2 miles long, this couplet of one-way streets, SW 5th and SW 6th. One of these days--well, it'll take me more than one day--I'll be walking those blocks and photographing all along the way. I'll share lots and lots with y'all. We'll have a great time together!



Here's a map TriMet has on their Web site for the Portland Transit Mall. It's on the west side of the Willamette River, the two parallel lines, and there's a closeup of it on the right side of the picture.

Pioneer Courthouse Square's Festival of Flowers 2016

I got off the bus downtown on the way to work and walked a few blocks to see this year's Festival of Flowers. I wanted to make certain I got to go before any predicted rains messed with the blossoms.



Here's a wider view. I took these photos from SW 6th and did not walk across the square to the higher viewpoints. I might go back if it's not raining--they're on display unaltered through June 14.



Just to the right of the previous photo, you see the entrance to Visitor Information. Look, there's another waterfall downtown!



And here's the part that's to the right of what the other photos show.



Looking through the wrought iron arch at the Festival of Flowers. I love this bit of history that remains on this site. The Portland Hotel stood on this square between 1890 and 1951 when it was torn down and replaced with a two-story parking lot; an original archway and gatework from the hotel were made part of the square's design and are found today on the south side of the square. I've seen photos of that hotel--do I ever wish it still stood? Yes, although I would greatly miss what's known as Portland's Living Room, I would love to see how that hotel could have been, if maintained and respected.



Getting artsy with the arch.



I really like sandwich boards filled with information and enticements.

UPDATE and the after-work commute today

UPDATE: I made it through work today without any problems--hooray! Soon I'll be back in the recliner at the Oncology Center for Chemo Round Three. I wonder if it will be different, the side effects. Or, will it be much the same as Rounds One and Two? We'll see.



After work today, I missed the streetcar, so I took the 4 bus across the Hawthorne Bridge to wait for the 12 that I would then ride the rest of the way home. Here we are looking south on SW 6th Avenue. Where's that next bus? I like to be in downtown, so I do this most all of the time after work when I'm there full time because the bus gets filled up with folks coming out of downtown office buildings. That means if I were to ride the streetcar or a bus north on SE Grand to change at East Burnside like I did last week in the middle of the afternoon, I'd be waiting on a 12 or 19 bus with no seats available. I'd rather go west across the river, then end up going east to make certain that I get a seat. It's safer to ride sitting down than standing up, in my opinion.



Ah, there's the 12 at the other end of the block. Why? I know. It's shift change, from driver to driver. When I walked by after getting off the 4 bus, I had noticed a TriMet employee sitting on the sidewalk with his back leaned against one of the huge concrete planters that dot the streets of downtown Portland. When I noticed the 12 pull in, I put two and two together and came up with shift change. I've been riding the bus since July, 2006, and often make correct guesses as to what's going on after observing lots over time.



Curbside service, thanks to TriMet and the 12 bus, y'all! I only had to wait seven minutes, total; I spent the first few minutes sitting at the bus shelter, but the sun shined on me too directly which I knew I didn't need to have happening, due to the chemotherapy, so I ended up standing where I figured the bus would come to a stop in order for all of us commuters to board.



I decided to put my phone on, I guess you call it Facetime, so that I could hold it up to the window and catch some candid shots, maybe a video. Here's a photo that I cropped because about a third of it was of the inner wall that separates this window from the next one. I like how this turned out! The shelter and the stop are at the MAX Green and Yellow Lines' stop beside Pioneer Courthouse on SW 6th between SW Yamhill and SW Morrison. Pioneer Courthouse Square is directly across the street.



I like this video! The building is one of A. E. Doyle's best, in my opinion--it's my favorite--the Bank of California built in 1924. I wish I were filthy rich 'cause I'd love to own it! The video ends as the 12 pulls to a stop at the bus shelter in front of a restaurant called the Original Dinerant on SW 6th. The next building north is the Big Pink. I've eaten at the Original twice, but that was at least two or more years ago. The food was good, sort of expensive if you don't make Happy Hour, and I might stop there some time in the future before I go to a Portland Trail Blazers' home game. I would then catch the MAX to the game at the stop beside the Big Pink.



Here's a video as we head up the slope of the Burnside Bridge and on across the Willamette River. I stopped the video sooner that I meant to, but that's OK. You get the idea of how the bridge railing looks, as well as the sidewalks. At the beginning of the video, the bridge approach is above downtown streets and the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, thus all of those trees.



Finally, here is a video shot through the windshield, showing you the new building being built at the east end of the Burnside Bridge, right up against the north side of the bridge. The building's name? Yard. Just Yard. Not The Yard.

2014 Festival of Flowers, No. 5

Not sure why it surprised me, but it did. This man led his rather large German Shepherd right through the potted flowers--to have paid attention to the maze that the flowers designed would have added, what, seconds to his walk. I shouldn't have been shocked because people will do just about anything, anywhere. However, I was so shocked that I missed the photo of them entering and going through the flowers. Couldn't get my finger on the button quick enough. Found out that having my mouth hanging open wreaks havoc on my coordination. Thankfully, the man and the dog seemed to have been coordinated because I didn't see flowers being knocked over. Maybe they managed to walk along the strip cleared for the sprinkler hose. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photo!

2014 Festival of Flowers, No. 4

The mailman eating his lunch on the park bench caught my eye. And made me wonder, "What's a mailman doing working on Saturday? With something that looks like delivery as his job? About the time I got to the end of that thought, I noticed the sort of photo bomber with the sunglasses, waving at me like we were long lost friends. Never seen him before. Turns out I got another guy eating a slice of pizza on a park bench--he's backed up to the mailman. I like how the photo turned out. Hope you enjoy it.

2014 Festival of Flowers, No. 3

Never expected to see someone on the way to catch fish pushing his bicycle across Pioneer Courthouse Square during this year's Festival of Flowers. Never. Yet, such a sight is quintessential Portland. One of the things I love about this city is how easy it is to be yourself--no one messes with you as long as you're not creating some sort of problem or trouble for your fellow citizens.



See her? That little girl in the shorts set? She's stopped on a dime admid the flower-formed maze.



I wonder if the sprinkler's being on while folks were on the square surprised him. Could be that's what he's looking at. My best guess, anyway.



Isn't he a nice looking man? And check out those socks and sandals. This guy knows how to wash whites, or, at the very least, someone in charge of his socks knows how to keep them whiter than white!

2014 Festival of Flowers, No. 2

In the sunshine on a Saturday, a sprinkler and a boy. Nothing else needs to be said.



The same photo, cropped.

2014 Festival of Flowers, No. 1

From May 30 through June 10, Pioneer Courthouse Square hosted the latest Festival of Flowers. Every single time I've seen this display, I've been awestruck at the designs and the colors. If you'd like to see photos of the other times I've managed to make it to see this glorious sight, just search the blog for Festival of Flowers.

Here's what I found online about this year's festival: “A-maze-ing” designed by DAO Architecture opens to the public on May 30th. This two-week Festival of Flowers installation inspired by Pioneer Courthouse Square’s 30th birthday will transform the Square into a colorful interactive maze of nearly 20,000 begonias, marigolds, impatiens and more. The celebration will continue along the downtown transit mall celebrating Portland Mall Management, Inc.’s fifth birthday with a series of floral designs at the Congress Center and Unitus Plaza. The designs will remain throughout downtown until June 10th.

Winter Opposites - No. 7, Another shot of that busy corner at Pioneer Courthouse Square

Sunshine brings people outside where they are together, talking, laughing, walking, looking. I took this photo of these people outside our NBC affiliate KGW's Studio on the Square. Several weekday broadcasts originate here. I took this photo, which is just a few feet north of the photo on Tuesday's post, on September 2, 2011.

See the bits of pink in the background? To the left, that's the box office for the Big Pink Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour. And the other pink, to the right, is the actually trolley, waiting on SW Broadway for tour-goers to board. You must be very careful when getting off, though, because that last step can be much higher from the sidewalk than you're expecting. My sweet friend Kay tore something in her knee getting off in 2012 and had to have surgery followed by rehab.