Busy Sidewalk, No. 1

A family of four, out for a stroll on a Friday evening. Sunny, cold in the shadows, thus the jackets, those thick boots on the older daughter, and Dad's hands in his pockets. I imagine that the shopping bag with the red design on it came from the City Target, not too many blocks west and south of the intersection where they crossed West Burnside. You can see a portion of a sign there above the top of the red umbrella. Berbati's, where Lamont first worked when he moved to Portland in September, 2000. I'm not sure if it was this corner or another one; back then the establishment took up more square footage than it does today.

I took this photo on March 21 at 6:45 p.m., then I caught the bus on home. I had lasted as long as I could at Tom McCall Waterfront Park among the blooming cherry trees and folks out enjoying them. Nature called, don't you know.

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.

A cute, but cold, Tuba Christmas fan

Look at her pink nose. The cold made it match the color of her jacket and hat perfectly. Cropped and altered at Picnik.

Swinging along in SE Portland

OK, so I'm chicken. I can't yet get myself to ask someone to let me photograph them for the blog. First, I don't want to slow them down when they so clearly have somewhere to go. Second, I don't want to be told no. Third, I don't want to be looked at like I've gone off the deep end. I know--cluck, cluck, cluck.

So until I can figure out how to get a backbone about this, I'll continue to have out-of-the-ordinary photos of intriguing Portlanders.

I like her grays and blacks, her layers, her beret, her shoulder bag, her shoes, and her exuberant stepping out walk. I took these photos last Wednesday on SE Hawthorne at 11th. It was after work, extremely windy and cold. I had been fooled by the sunshine into thinking it was warmer, so after I got outside, I had to put on my hat, my scarf and my gloves.


You can see the difference in the swing of her skirt, between this photo taken beside a building and the first one, taken as she crossed the street.