Rainy autumn in my neighborhood, No. 1

Near my apartment this afternoon, water stands at the junction of a sloped driveway and a street. Brightly colored leaves float in the water until wet through and through--then they sink.

Abandoned on the street, No. 3

Found on the sidewalk beside the Produce Row Development parking lot, most of an upholstered couch. I took this photo on my walk to work on November 9, 2011, in Southeast Portland.

Is it unique to Portland to set items out on the sidewalk with a sign that reads, "Free!"? Or with no sign at all, just there? Seems like trash when it's as large as a couch, doesn't it? Sometimes, though, I believe it has to do with the ease of disposing of unwanted items which are still viable and may be of use to others.

Here's a little story about "Free!" items and my Mama. Way back in the summer of 2006 right after we had moved into our first Portland apartment, Mama brought home our first "Free!" items--a decorative ceramic olive oil bottle with four tiny dishes, you know, so you could put olive oil in the dishes and dip your bread in the oil. Somewhat sheepishly, she pulled handed me the bottle and pulled the dishes from her pockets after she and Duncan returned from a walk around the block. She cracked me up!

Here's why. When we had visited my sons in Portland prior to our move, naturally we noticed the "Free!" stuff here and there in their neighborhood (we hadn't seen anything on the sidewalks in our home town of Jackson, Mississippi, except on trash day), The guys explained what was going on. Later on as we packed to move to Portland, I heard quite a bit about how we had plenty of stuff, didn't need any more stuff, no need to pay attention to "Free!" stuff. So it cracked me up that my little ol' Mama succumbed first to the urge to bring something home which she had found on the sidewalk with a hand-lettered sign! The last thing I can remember bringing home which I found free in the lobby of our old building is the square, unfinished but well-sanded square wooden table upon which I now type. Hooray for viable, useful "Free!" stuff. The last things I put out for free on the sidewalk near the dumpster and recycling bins beside my new building--four good condition dinette chairs for which I had no room when I moved last January after Mama had died. They were gone in less than an hour.

Autumn Lining the Streets

This is our street in the Alphabet District of Northwest Portland. Our building is on the right on the corner. That wall with the windows that you can see is across the side street. to the east of our building.


This is one street to the north of our street. In both photos I'm looking eastward.


A final photo for today's post, taken from the northern sidewalk on our street, looking through an opening caused by a space between an office building and an older house that now is a law office, and looking to the northern side of the street that is just north of ours. The tree on the right amazes me every time I have looked at the photo since I took it on October 23--the vivid color peeks out from the corner of the house wonderfully.

Seen on the street, a neat new summer hairstyle

She graciously allowed me to take these two photos after I had told her how much I liked her hair Friday evening as we waited for the next bus. She was fine with the blog, too. Double neat.

I thought I'd found a double denim situation, too, but it turned out her jacket was more of a poplin, not denim like her jeans.

There's always next time.