Rain protection.

Recent rain brought out these colorful umbrellas and their ladies, a couple blocks from my building. Umbrellas, not the norm in sometimes blustery Portland--I hardly ever use one although I have a travel one in a pouch on my backpack. Instead, I followed the good advice my sons gave me back when I moved to Portland. "Mom, get a raincoat with a hood. You don't want rain dripping off a rain hat down your neck. You don't want an umbrella blowing inside out." Thanks, Lamont and Leland.

First-round, NBA Western Conference Playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, 122. Houston Rockets, 120. Overtime win for my guys! Hooray!

Rainy autumn in my neighborhood, No. 3

When I decided to take a short walk Sunday afternoon, I couldn't hear any rain from inside my apartment, nor could I see any falling when I looked out the window, so I walked from my front door and across the hallway to the building's side door in my Crocs and socks. All it took to hear the rain was to open that side door. Went right back to my apartment for my rain boots, pulled the hood on my raincoat up over my cloth hat and walked on outside into a shiny, colorful wonderland of autumn leaves.