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.

UPDATE and another sight I'd like to see again

UPDATE: Much the same, thank goodness. Eating by the clock because I have no feeling of being hungry no matter the time of day, but I know that I don't need to miss a meal. Nothing much tastes right, but I'm managing with what Lamont and Leland have bought for me lately at Fred Meyer. They're such helpful, caring guys. I am blessed. Also, thanks to each of you for your continued prayers, love, and concern.



Led by a dachshund on a leash, pedestrians cross West Burnside at SW Broadway, downtown on November 4, 2011. I waited half way up the block for a 12 or a 19 so that I could go home.

Seen on the street, No. 2, one of my favorite Portland fountains

Unofficially titled "The Car Wash," this fountain always captures my attention, especially in this sort of  profile view. I've read on the City of Portland Web site that during its hours of operation--8 a.m-10 p.m., spring, summer, fall--a wind gauge shuts it off fairly often as a precaution for the safety of pedestrians. The sidewalk is glazed tile which can be slippery when wet, more so than concrete. The wind gauge only lets it flow during very calm conditions, shutting off the water if the wind speed exceeds 2 miles per hour. The fountain is made of steel, and as best I can tell, created by Carter, Hull, Nishita, McCulley & Baxter, installed in 1977 at SW 5th Avenue and Ankeny Street. The red and white seen through the evergreen hedge is on the roof of the gas station on West Burnside, between SW 5th and SW 4th--I often catch my last bus home from Portland Trail Blazer games in front of that gas station. I took this photo while I waited for the bus to the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival on July 3.

Sunny smile

Sunny day, May 23, 2009. I took this photo at 4:50 p.m. The young woman on the right smiles broadly. While I don't know what brought that smile to her face, I have to say that, in general, her smile reflects how all Portlanders feel when the sun returns. A close look makes me think that the young woman on the left has said something which caused the other young woman to break out in that sunny smile.

Along the west bank of the Willamette River, No. 3

I heard the lady in the maroon jacket say, as they approached the single bubbler while I leaned over and took the photograph, "What's she doing?" The man in the jacket with the green stripes answered, "She taking a photo of the water fountain."



Little did they know that I'd also taken a photo with them in focus. I stood up as they came abreast and asked, "Do you want to see the photo of the water fountain?" They stopped and looked and gave their approval. We agreed that it was a beautiful early evening to be out for a walk, enjoying the sunshine and the cherry blossoms. I chickened out and only showed them the top photo where the two of them are not in focus. One of these days, I'll be brave enough when I make eye contact with the subject of a photograph to say something along the lines of, "I've taken this great photo of you and plan to put it on my blog soon. Here's my card with the blog's address so that you can check it out, if you'd like." What do you other photo bloggers think about my plan? OK? Pitiful? Unnecessary? What would you do? What do you do?

By the way, how about that man with the purposeful stride, balancing his brimmed, cloth hat on his right fingertips? I caught him there in the center of the photo in mid-step, the entire sole of his left shoe visible. I love it! And I love that tiny bit of the sky visible between parts of the Steel Bridge, there in the distance. The tiny bit I'm talking about touches the top of the striding man's hat and looks as if it's a feather coming out of the hat, practically the exact color!

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.

Seen downtown, No. 4

Not your everyday headwear for sunny Saturday in May. Naturally, once I saw the young man and his hat through the viewfinder, I had to keep clicking.
  Oops. Busted.
 

He turned to his friend, no doubt explaining that there's a crazy woman over there on the corner taking my picture.
 

His friend smiled and they continued walking south across West Burnside.

Seen on the street, February 16, 2013, No. 8

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The man's hooded jacket has not been streaked with watered-down white paint. Those streaks are the falling rain, better visible after I altered this photo with PicMonkey's HDR. I wanted you to be able to see the rain. I took this photo downtown a block east of Pioneer Courthouse Square.
 

This is the unaltered image--very little rain visible. Rest assured, at its original size at Flickr, you can see rain drops in more parts of the image than his jacket.

Seen in downtown Portland

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After I had walked over the Hawthorne Bridge on January 8, I continued towards the bus stop at SW 2nd Avenue and SW Main so that I could catch my first bus of the two it takes me to get home. Before I got to that bus stop in the next block, I noticed the lights of a bus which had stopped behind this lady on the bicycle, shining on her. Naturally I had to take a photo, then when the light changed, I hot-footed it for the next corner because the bus behind her was the one I wanted to catch!

You can see how prepared she is for our usual rainy winter weather, with her hooded, bright green rain coat and her tall rubber boots. It alarms me that she doesn't have a helmet--mothers get alarmed by stuff like that. I'm glad to see that she has a light on the back of the bicycle--there near where her raincoat is reflected in the red bike's aluminum (I suppose) fender. What do you think about the angle of the handlebars? Pointed straight up, it seems to me. I hope I come across here again some time so that I can take another photo to compare with this one. 

Once I saw the photo on the iMac, I decided that it had turned out much better than I had expected. Here are the reasons I believe that to be true:

• The headlights shine into the intersection, making a slight shadow of the lady and her bicycle.
• The dashes that outline the bike lane follow the angle of SW Main as it departs the Hawthorne Bridge and continues westward up  the street. I'm usually up in a bus and don't get to see the street like this.
• Also, it's neat that the trees still have lights on them--something left over from the holidays.
• Finally, I like the pedestrians who've crossed at the intersection. I imagine each one feels as good as I remember feeling about no rain on that particular evening. The last woman in the group on the left of the intersection wears stiletto-style black boots. Amazing that anyone willingly puts those on their feet and heads out to work all day in them. Even when I was young and slim, I couldn't bear the thought of doing that to my feet. 

Bike rack - a recent addition to apartment building's basement

I don't ride a bike, but I am proud to see this for those that do. And I have a vested interest in the fact that this many bike-riders live here.

On the smallest scale, that many bike-riders in the building means all the more possibility of there being a parking space available when I unload purchases from the occasional Zipcar.

On the largest scale, that many bike-riders in the building can be ex·trap·o·lated across Portland as taking a great big bite outta our carbon footprint. (I do my part by riding mass transit and walking and not owning an automobile. And every once in a while, since I live in such a flat neighborhood, I wish for an ol'-lady-sized tricycle.)

I pray for street safety and for observant-of-traffic-law-and-each-other bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.

Neons are in! Once again, not exactly neon, but for sure we've got street level matching colors, No. 9

Here's the map of the intersection. Today's photo is of the corner at the Sizzle Pie. You can tell from the map that it's one of those intriguing triangle-shaped corners and/or buildings. I took this photo on May 19, 2012.



Standing on SW 10th Avenue at West Burnside, pedestrians wait for the traffic signal so that they can continue to walk north.

One woman wears a salmon orange top. Coming around the corner is a younger woman wearing the same color top, just muted a bit. Then you've got the dark reddish orange letters with golden yellow light bulbs which make up the letters Sizzle Pie. And then in the corner window behind the man in the green beret, a red or reddish orange vehicle is reflected in the pizzeria's windows, along with its red neon Pizza sign.

Plus that lady with the grayish-lavender knee-length shorts is wearing a gray top and gray cardigan which match the painted bricks at Sizzle Pie. Her shorts, the man's plaid shirt, and the woman coming around the corner wearing the purple cardigan all match, too, in that they're in the purple family.

All of the men are wearing hats. And at least six of the pedestrians are wearing denim jeans. Cool!

Neons are in! Street level matching colors, No. 8

Here's the map again. Today's photo, taken on May 19, 2012, shows SW 10th which is the same street that the bright yellow Portland Streetcar rode on in the post from Monday, 05/28/2012. The vehicles are heading northbound on the one-way street.
 

I realize that I really don't need to point out the three, count 'em, three people wearing the matching neon chartreuse green! They're as obvious as the noses on our faces! Abundant serendipity at play here.

Now for the street level matching colors, also abundant. The girl walking away has on shoes which are two shades of gray, as well as a gray skirt, all of which match the pavement, parts of the sidewalk, that pole in the light gray base on the right, plus the wall and overhang on that building down the street. Part of her shoulder bag is a muted chartreuse, the section beneath the flap, the outline of the flower on the flap, and the shoulder strap itself.

The girl walking towards me has on a black coat, black pants and carries a black bag, all of which match the line of poles either beside her or marching out of sight beyond her. Also, check out that man walking towards me, wearing sunglasses. He's got on a black jacket and black pants!

And the girl sitting on the light gray base of the gray pole had getter hope that when she gets up from there that her white pants are not light gray! In the meantime, her pants match the extremely clean-looking white T-shirt on the man walking towards me as well as the random white-painted traffic stripes.

To tell you the truth, this photo provided the inspiration for this series. So, you can blame it on these three strangers!

Neons are in! Well, it's really just bright yellow, and this time without any street level matching colors, No. 7

Here's the map of the intersection. We're focused this time on the southwest corner, labeled on the map as Pod: the Sculpture.
 

Who could resist a bright yellow Portland Streetcar in a series like this? Not I.

On the right you see a young woman with her hoop, entertaining the pedestrians who are crossing West Burnside on SW 10th Avenue, heading north at the corner. It appears no one paid her much mind once they'd passed her on the way to cross the street.

I've noticed that the majority of the pedestrians are wearing denim jeans, so that's a sort of matching. Plus those three boys have on shorts. Two of the three people between the brown poles have on baggy pants. And one bicyclist waiting beside the streetcar has on a yellow bicycle helmet. Tidbits of matching going on here.

At the very right edge of the photo you can see just a bit of the kinetic sculpture, Pod. If you're tall enough, you can reach up and touch part of it which makes it swing slowly back and forth, much like the girl rhythmically rotated her hoop with her hips.
 

Here's a photo that I took on October 16, 2010, which shows almost the entire sculpture--you're just missing the third leg. That black, bulbous shape is what one must reach up and touch or shove to make the more than 70 stainless steel rods sway in unison. I've actually seen the tips of the rods separate somewhat when the shove had some elbow grease behind it!

The building diagonally across from the Pod has been changed, with a different business on its ground floor. You'll get to see a symbol of that new business in a later post in this series.

Random pedestrians, downtown Portland

I took this photo after work on November 3 as I waited for the 12 or the 19 bus home. I'd been to have a check up on the floaters in my right eye, rode the Yellow Line MAX to Kaiser Interstate and then back downtown to the Transit Mall so I could transfer to a bus. I like watching folks walk across SW 6th Avenue while I wait. They are heading north towards the intersection with SW Yamhill which is the south side of Pioneer Courthouse Square. I'm very pleased with how this photo turned out. All I've done is crop it to better showcase these two random pedestrians, or should I say three since the man's reflection is so clear in the window? The big X is inside a branch of Chase Bank. Oh, and the floaters in my eye have diminished--hooray!

Seen on June 18, downtown Portland

The red caught my eye as they crossed SW Park at SW Madison in front of the Oregon History Museum at the Oregon Historical Society. I thought how lucky they are to have each other, at their age. I couldn't resist following their progress for a few moments.


The street barricades stood guard over a row of Chevrolets outside the Portland Art Museum's The Allure of the Automobile and the Cars in the Park display, this particular Saturday it's All Chevrolets. The barricades didn't slow down either one of these pedestrians holding their bags--his from Rite-Aid, hers from Macy's--which mean they've been walking for at least eight blocks with those bags, her with her umbrella open the whole way maybe because it had been raining off and on for several hours; neither one of them even seemed winded, and they've been slowly increasing their elevation the whole way. I'm guessing that they live somewhere along the Park Blocks, don't have a car, and walk everywhere they possibly can. Wonderful.


Here's where their paths part, just a bit. Why not? The allure of the automobile and all that.


He's drawn to stop and gaze at the vintage Chevrolet.


Not for long, though. Drawn by what is surely a connection honed over their years together, he knows it is time to move on, following closely the woman as she heads home without missing a beat.

Now for a few photos of the car that stopped the man, a 1932 Chevrolet four-door special sedan. The placard in the windshield also included this poignant statement of History: Bought in 1972, restoration completed in 2005. Our oldest son wanted to restore it but died in 1999. We wanted to finish it in his honor.


I took all of these earlier in the afternoon, well before the couple and their red highlights caught my eye.

No. 5, May 16, 2011

I am convinced these two people are father and daughter--look at their profiles here and here. Rain continued splattering as these two continued to walk. I stood quietly across the street with my water-repellant coat zipped to my chin, thankful for the narrow roof over my head. As I snapped photo after photo, another part of my brain occupied itself wondering, "Where's the bus? I need to get back to work. I found myself a new curling iron in Freddie's at lunch, but I need to get back to work." It's a good thing I didn't say any of that out loud, although, come to think of it, plenty of people talk to themselves here on a regular basis. I would have fit in, just like I believe I do every time I am walking along in the rain. I am a Portlander.

Flickr; Picnik; Create; Orton-ish with Bloom and Brightness changed from default; Fancy Focus with Focal Size, Edge Hardness and Intensity all changed from default; cropped and resized.

No. 4, May 16, 2011

Plenty of rain led to an open umbrella. It brought back memories of the 1970s for me, in that it reminded me of one that I had, though it did have white band around the border and a white plastic handle that curled upward at its end. I also had white, lace-up go-go boots and several outfits which incorporated hot pants. I was something else!

Some who have left comments have praised my photo manipulation skills. While I would love to take all the credit for making the changes I've been making in these photos, I'm here to tell you that anyone who subscribes to Picnik Premium will be able to do the same things, and way, way more, with their very own photos. It is a whole lotta fun!

Flickr, Picnik, Create, Effects, Gritty with the Darkness increased.

By the way, Tuesday night I was too give out, as we say back home in Jackson, Mississippi, to blog. I'd been on a date with Lamont and Leland--burgers and fries and Barq's Root Beer at Killer Burger, followed by the Shaw Brothers Studio 1982 Kung Fu film "Buddha's Palm" at the Hollywood Theatre, the first of their Kung Fu Theater offerings. You see, the three of us have a history with an earlier Kung Fu Theater, back when those two sons of mine were little boys. Saturdays back in Jackson some network or other broadcast a different movie each week, filled with whirling, swirling folks bent on mayhem and destruction. When I found out about the movie, I immediately e-mailed the guys right away. The 35 mm movie was in excellent condition so that we didn't miss anything at all, not one extension of the longest kicking leg I've ever seen or one yucky emission from the cyst that shoots acid. "Buddha's Palm" was a mostly entertaining hoot! We just might make it to the next offering on June 28, "Shaolin vs Wu-Tang" because we had a fun night.

No. 3, May 16, 2011

Right about now good-sized raindrops begin to fall. She moves her right arm in advance of opening her umbrella. She scrunches her eyes shut. I'm across the street, thinking, "Rain, rain, go away!" I am lucky to be standing beneath a narrow strip of roof attached to the Fred Meyer's outer wall.

Flickr, Picnik, Create, Boost lessened from the default percentage, Focal B&W.

No. 1, May 16, 2011

What do you think first drew my attention to these two people as they crossed SE Cesar Chavez (SE 39th) at SE Hawthorne?

Here's how I got the photo to look like it does: from Flickr to Picnik, to Create, to Effects, to Boost, to Focal Zoom. I used less Boost than the default, and I played around at the Focal Zoom with Zoominess, Focal Size, Edge Hardness, and I think I used the Hardlight Advanced Mode.

The MAX slows to stop on SW Morrison at Pioneer Courthouse Square

The MAX train will not completely stop until its eastern end, the one that you can see here, has cleared the sidewalk where these two men walk. I took a whole series of photos as the train crossed the intersection at SW 6th Avenue and SW Morrison Street. It didn't take me too long to decide to just post this one--I like the motion, the numbers of people visible on the sidewalk, the way you can see some of the Macy's store beyond the end of the train as it heads west. Did you notice Santa sitting there on the brick wall? The blurry pedestrians who have crossed at the corner?