More sun, shade, sidewalk. I do look up when I'm out and about, promise, but these shadows lately have been fascinating.

Some mornings as I head for the bus shelter, I walk out the front door of my building--variety is the spice of life, so said my 8th and 9th grade social studies teacher, Melvin Kellogg Bruss. I'm happy that I did the other morning because I got to see another great sun, shade, sidewalk combo.

Sun. Shade. Blossoms. Bees. Serendipity.

Once I came back down the steps from the thrift shop on Saturday, I turned west to walk back to my building. That's when I noticed the busy bees and their yellow blossoms. The bees flighted so quickly that I'm very surprised I managed to get a couple of photos with them in focus. I've cropped so that you'll have a better view.



The yellow blossoms grow as a ground cover on a slope that at it's highest point, it's a bit above my eye level. If I hadn't been standing in the shade, I'd never have been able to stand there long enough to keep trying to photograph a bee. It was 90 degrees on my iPhone's weather app.



Bee on the move, upper left corner, silhouette. Cropped so that it's easier for you to see.



Same image, uncropped, to give you an idea of just how difficult it was to find those bees in time to take a photo. Blossoms all over the place, dark shadowy spaces in between, quick moving bees. What a trip!



While I stood there taking photos, I noticed several blossoms sort of standing alone, not in the turmoil where the bees flitted. I wonder if the bees knew their pollen had already been gathered? Otherwise, why ignore such pretty blossoms?

Sun. Shade. Sidewalks. Serendipity. Redux.

Saturday I turned the corner to walk on the sidewalk to go to the thrift shop behind the Albertina Kerr building. Immediately I noticed the dappled shade and sunlight beneath the leafy tree at the corner. Another great photo op!



These are the concrete steps up to the thrift shop. More dappled sunlight and shade, plus great shadows created by the handrail. The brown bits you see are debris that has fallen from the nearby trees.



Here's a photo of the steps--I stopped halfway up to take it. Besides the sunlight and shade, you see more of the brown debris that has fallen from the nearby trees.

Sun. Shade. Sidewalks. Serendipity.

As I walked across the street to head to the corner, I made a conscious decision to walk in the shade, if I could manage to not have to rub against the originator of the shade, that giant hedge. I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen, and, at the same time, I noticed that my left arm felt cooler air on it than my right arm. On my iPhone the temp registered 90 degrees, so I was surprised that the shade made a noticeable difference as I stopped and stood there to take this photo. I love paying attention to what's going on around me, but this, this was wonderful. Serendipity today, being in the moment, aware, experiencing. Yea!



Before continuing around the corner, I turned to look north towards NE Sandy and took this photo, just to document the hedge, the shade, the sunshine, the sidewalk. Wonderful to live in a neighborhood with such sidewalks.

Flickr and Blogger continue to drive me crazy. I really wish I knew more about what's happening and understood if there's something I need to do to stop it from happening. Whew. Anyway, the photos are so small right now that I'm sad, but at least they are on the post. I thought for a few minutes that I'd never get it done today!

Seen Downtown, No. 3

Setting sun accents the Salvation Army building on the corner of West Burnside and SW 2nd Avenue. Down the street, it hits the top floor of the New Market Block, too. I was downtown for an after-work artist talk about the public art installed as part of the Portland Streetcar Central Line outside my workplace. Couldn't resist taking some photos.
 

HDR-altered at PicMonkey. Fun to fool with photos, now and then.

Seen on the street, February 16, 2013, No. 6

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Sweet scene, this daddy and his two children patiently waiting for the MAX Green Line--I'm on the Yellow Line, so I know they didn't want it, or they would have been standing up as we approached. The rain stopped, the sun came out, a chill remained.

Chapman Square, lady walking in the sunshine, vintage pickup truck driving by

Took this photo during lunch hour, June 3, 2011. The lady is walking northwest towards the intersection of SW Main with SW 4th Avenue. The pickup truck is going west on SE Main, having just driven around the Thompson Elk which stands in the center of the street, between Lownsdale Square and Chapman Square. The white truck in the distance is going east on SW Salmon which is the street at the northern end of Lowndale Square. It looks to me like this lady is walking for exercise and/or enjoyment of the sunshine, two activities I believe we all hope that we shall enjoy again next June.

Chapman Square, photo shoot, July 27, 2009, taken during my lunch hour

These photos give you an idea of one way people used Chapman Square and an idea of its grand trees, lush plantings and grass, all beautiful in the summer sun.


The woman standing on the boulder caught my eye. Immediately I notice the woman leaning on the boulder, and my eye continued to the left. Photo shoot, I surmised. The woman on the boulder appears to be holding a little black dress, used here to block incoming sunlight. The photographer stands to the left of the tree trunk, wearing a long-sleeved pale yellow shirt and a brimmed, black hat. I think the man farther left is the hair/make-up guy--I can see brushes and spray bottles and such in the pouched, black bag hanging across his chest.


Another shot on the other side of the tree trunk, which along with the boulder, stands inside the sidewalk on SW 3rd Avenue, on the eastern edge of Chapman Square.


A fresh-air closet on the sidewalk that diagonally intersects Chapman Square from SW 3rd and SW Madison to SW 4th and SW Main consisted of a rack of hanging garments, a hanging bag and a suitcase. Surely the woman on the bench was a member of the creative party, too; why else would the rack and the suitcase be so close to her?


The model and the dresser walk toward the Women's Restroom at Chapman Square. The glass block window is in its brick walls. I love those ferns you see along its walls. I don't know whose bags you see partially visible; no one else was nearby.


The last photo I took before I headed off to catch the bus back to work. They are headed off to take the next series of photos.

Light and shadow, stripes and swirls, lines--seen at Pioneer Courthouse Square

Taken a few seconds apart as I walked from the top of the square to the bottom. Naturally the cat and its beautiful markings caught my eye. The time is about 6:25 p.m., thus the waning sun on the bricks.

Terry Schrunk Plaza, Downtown Portland, June 28, 2010

Took this one from a moving bus on my way back to the building where I work--I'd been over to eat lunch in the park just across the street to the north of this one. You can tell that it was a beautiful day, sun and shade, soft breeze, no humidity. Blissful. Shared with innumerable Portlanders.

Two Portland Skyline Photos

I took these photos last Thursday, Dec. 4, right after I got to my building. The sun reflected in that brightest spot sent rays of light clean across the Willamette River into the windows of my building! All the way from the windows, through an opening between two pods of cubicles, through an open door and onto the office wall, a glowing rectangle to the right of the door that opens from our Front Office into the hallway that leads to the elevators. Amazing!

Seen on the streets of Portland, No. 2

A bundled-up-book-reader sits a few feet from dazzling full sun, filling the street--that's why she's wearing shades.

I took this photograph walking north on NW 11th Avenue, heading towards the corner of 11th and NW Couch Street, around 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009.

She's at a table outside Mio Gelato. I stopped to look and lust after gelato, knowing full-well that I couldn't have any--doggone lactose intolerance. So I selected a bambino-sized portion of strawberry sorbet. Yummy taste, good texture.

My ultimate destination, Whole Foods, in search of a pecan pie. I couldn't find one--must be a holiday, seasonal item. Drat.

Europa on Park

Yesterday after work I rode the bus to the west side of the river, got off next to the
First and Main building site, and walked a few blocks west to the last Music on Main of this summer. Photos will be posted soon, I promise--I took so many that I need some time to look over them.

Anyway, after listening to some fine music outdoors, I walked a few more blocks to catch a bus home, looking here, looking there, like I always do. Of course, I must also own up to the fact that I look down a lot, making sure where my feet are going.

On SW Park, this vignette at the Europa caught my eye.




All of you photo bloggers out there will find this as much fun as I did, I think. Yesterday Jill at Salem Oregon Daily Photo commented, Do you really go to work or just wander around the streets? You have so many great street shots!!

Here’s my answering comment: Thanks, Jill, I do work a 40-hour week, but walking is so easy here, what with these super days of good weather that are so comfortable after work, with well-maintained sidewalks, the sun shining, a breeze blowing, and a TriMet ride home nearby. I can't help myself, I often take walks around downtown, camera at the ready. It's purely paradise.

In my eyes

The sun, the shadows, both large and small,

The myriad sharp and soft greens you see,
The ubiquitous blue sky above it all,

So appears Portland's perfect weather, observed by me.

Early Morning Singing Song

How many times have you walked into where you work and been blinded for a second by light from an entirely unknown source? My first thought Oct. 26, just before 8 a.m., "Is that the sun?" Yep. I took these photos Oct. 26, just before 8 a.m. In the forefront you see the lit silhouettes of pampas grass growing on the rooftop garden. Above the brilliant reflection you see the moon which set behind the buildings moments after I took these photos.



To paraphrase "Good Morning, Starshine" from "Hair" --

Good morning sunshine.
Portland says hello.
You shine above us.
We shine below.

Good morning moonset.
You're saying so long,
Even though you're not gone yet.
Our early morning singing song.

The Sun's Comin' Up

What a blessing it is to live in Portland. If it weren't for this glorious weather, the fantastic mass transportation system, and the fact that the Willamette carved a valley eons ago, I would not be venturing out some mornings on my way to work, walking 1.22 miles from our apartment to a bus stop at 3rd and Couch. It's all downhill on Everett, and I get to take photographs along the way--good for my knees and my psyche. I'm in awe of what life affords me right now.

This sight caused me to stop in my tracks. I am particularly proud that the camera captured it as I saw it. The sidewalk runs beside Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, at NW Everett and 19th. I have to wonder at how long it's been there and how it's been able to warp so beautifully with the growth of the tree roots. The milky-upright shape to the right is a bus stop shelter--if I were running late in my walk, I could catch a bus there and go to my connecting stop at 3rd and Couch. By the way, Couch is pronounced cooch, as in the sound lovebirds make, "Coo, coo," not as in, "Please sit down beside me, here on the couch." Well, I suppose those people on the couch could be lovebirds.