After work, June 30, 2010, a splendid summer day in Portland, Oregon

Music on Main Street, presented for free by what was then known as the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. This group, Pancake Breakfast, took the stage and entertained an nice-sized audience happy to enjoy live music from 5 to 7 p.m. The building to their right is Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, to their left it's the Antoinette Hatfield Hall. There's one stage in the Schnitz and three stages in the Hatfield. They are four of the five stages now known collectively as the Portland'5 Centers for the Arts. The other stage is blocks away inside Keller Auditorium. I used to be a volunteer usher at the Hatfield and a volunteer tour guide at it and the Schnitz. Quite a lot of responsibility and some great times witnessing shows at the Hatfield and leading interested folks on tour in both buildings. Having the keys to the Schnitz in your hand is such a rush! It's an awesome vintage beauty to experience.



Folks of all ages come out for these events, year after year.



I'll bet these ladies are smiling at how the crowd reacted to the song that had just been performed.



A wider view of the crowd.



One of my favorite signs and marquees in Portland, at the Schnitz.

From the Portland'5 Web site:

Music on Main Street

The Portland’5 Centers for the Arts and ArtBar & Bistro are proud to present the 10th Annual Music on Main Street outdoor concert series.

The free concerts are held in downtown Portland on Main Street, between Southwest Broadway & Park Ave., next to Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

On Wednesday evenings starting in July, Portland’5 takes advantage of the lovely summer weather in Portland to present Music on Main Street, our free outdoor concert series. The concerts feature popular local musicians playing a diverse collection of music.

The 2015 season features jazz, salsa and world music with tributes to the Stevie Wonder and the Allman Brothers. The free concerts are open to the public and run from 5pm to 7pm – tickets are not required. The ArtBar & Bistro will be serving seasonal fare and delicious libations starting at 4:30 p.m.

Music on Main Street 2015 Schedule

July 8 - The Minus 5

July 15 - Joey Porter’s Tribute to Stevie Wonder
Ah, I see a goal for my recovery here! Have folding aluminum lawn chair, will travel!

July 22 - The Shanghai Woolies

July 29 - 3 Leg Torso

August 5 - Melao de Cuba

August 12 - Freak Mountain Ramblers

No show on August 19th due to private event

August 26 - Brothers and Sister

September 2 - Jujuba
This group makes great music and puts on an energetic show! I hope I'm able to see them again. We'll have to see what my treatment schedule dictates.
 
*In case of rain or extreme heat, Music on Main Street concerts will be held in the rotunda lobby of Antoinette Hatfield Hall, located next to Main Street at 1111 SW Broadway.

Buddies

Hercules and Bubba enjoy Portland's fantastic summer weather every chance that they get, here in the door of Bright Auto Upholstery, 1611 SE 6th Avenue, near where I work. Up until this week, I've only been able to get Hercules, on the left, to stand up to be petted; he's a sweetheart. Tuesday morning Bubba decided not to be so shy and walked up to sniff my hand. Our weather is about to change to misty, drizzly and/or rainy--for months to come. I hope that I'll be able to visit these two in their doorway and continue to build a friendship with both of them.

I'm back. Here are Friday's 3 Doors Down Cafe delicious dining and drinking delights.

Since Thursday, June 9, I've been either taking lots of photos, uploading lots of photos, and/or having a time with Flickr with lots of photos, not a totally horrible time with Flickr, but not the most fun I've ever had either. Now things appear to have come around to where I want and need them. Thank goodness.

I was hungry, thirsty, tired when I arrived. I left mellow, satisfied, ready to make it through shopping at Freddy's and then riding the bus on home with my rolling black bag stuffed with necessities like milk and saltines and such.

Here you can see why I left in grand state of existence.

Rhubarb Rita: Blue Agave Tequila, LIme, Lemon Juices, Rhubarb Syrup & Orange Liqueur. This was SO good that I really, really wanted a second one, but I knew I needed, above all desire, to be sure-footed while shopping. I only drank the one.


First appetizer: fromage de chevre mini pyramid, roasted beets, toast points. I smelled the toast when the plate was set down on the table, that's how quick the appetizer made it to me. Imminently spreadable cheese, which is, according to the menu, a classic French crumbly ash-covered goat cheese. Ash-covered? Didn't taste anything but smooth, creamy goat cheese. Thank goodness for goats and their milk and folks willing to make cheese with it. That cheese, combined with the sweetness of the roasted beets and the crispy, easily bitten and chewed toast--my, my. I am a blessed woman. Still wondering about the ash, though, so here's what I found at artisanalcheese dot com: Ash-Coated Cheese--Many goat cheeses, or chevres, are coated with a sprinkle of ash. Originally, the ash often came from oak charcoal, as was the tradition of cheeses from France's Loire Valley. Today, a recognized food grade activated charcoal ash is used which is sometimes salted and generally tasteless. The ash is helpful in mellowing the acidity to promote the affinage and produce a more delectable cheese. It also helps make the cheese surface more hospitable to the growth of molds that add to the complexity of the overall flavor.


Second appetizer: Potato gnocchi, Fava beans, duck confit, chicken stock with olive oil, and sauteed spring onion. Here's the back story: At lunch I called my older son Lamont who is sous chef at 3DD and asked, "Is duck confit on the menu tonight?" Since he is off on Thursdays, he wasn't sure but said there was a good chance that it would be since it had been part of a "3 for $21" special currently running at 3DD. (More about that below--don't miss it.) Oh, joy! Oh, boy! He was right. Suffice it to say that by the time I had finished, that bread to the left of the photo had helped me completely clean the entire bowl. Crunchy skin, meaty flesh, combined with the plump gnocchi and the dense Fava beans. Every morsel satisfied me more than the one before. To tell you the truth, I wasn't one bit sad when I had finished because it was perfect in proportion. Oh, and you can see there in the background that I didn't leave any of my first appetizer, either.

Here's the promised info about the "3 for $21"

Around town with Mama

I don’t want y’all thinking that I’m the only member of my Mississippi-to-Oregon-transplanted family out and about in Portland. My 81-year-old Mama gets her licks in.

Periodically I plan to post photos of her enjoying Portland. Sometimes she’ll have her sidekick with her, Duncan the darling dachshund—he’s a miniature, almost 14 years old.

Here she is, earlier this summer, downtown at the corner of SW Broadway and Washington, talking with two men who work at the Marriott. Like a lot of us Southerners, she’s talking with her hands as well as her mouth!

Summer Rain

Sprinklers on automatic soak Tom McCall Waterfront Park. I happened upon them by accident, one day after work when I got off the bus to look at something else. The water in waterfront refers to the Willamette River, which is to the east in these southward-facing photos.

Y'all who don't live in Portland must be wondering why anyone waters anything in Portland, right? It’s just not true that it rains all of the time here. It rains just enough to make things splendid.