UPDATE and let's go for when Portlanders needed umbrellas for Throwback Thursday

UPDATE:

My hair is loose, y'all. If I run my fingers through what's left after that short hair cut on July 21, I have hairs between my fingers. I don't feel them leaving my head, there's no tugging or pulling or pinching. It comes out while I'm sleeping, too. I'm OK with this because I know why it's happening. What if I didn't know the reason? I'd be panicking right and left. As it is, I'm centered by knowledge.

Yesterday, since I took a several-hour-nap, right after noon through 3:30 p.m., I was wide awake until 12:45 p.m. Then I managed to sleep until 7:15 a.m. although I woke up twice during the night. 

I've got to get this sleep thing worked out because two weeks from yesterday, I'll return to work part-time, August 26 through September 8, then have Chemo Round Three on September 9.

That's what I expect to happen, that's what I'm planning for. It all depends on what sort of whammy Chemo Round Two is on August 19.



Cars in the Park, June 18, 2011--theme of the day, Chevrolet. Folks came out to enjoy the vintage vehicles on display in the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland, umbrellas and other rain wear at the ready. We're in front of the Portland Art Museum--inside it there was an outta sight wonderful exhibit, The Allure of the Automobile. Every week throughout the summer, cars shows with a particular theme took place. A vintage vehicle lover's paradise, let me tell you.



Every which way, pedestrians with umbrellas. I remember when I moved here, the guys told me I'd want a raincoat with a hood so that rain wouldn't run down my neck at the collar, dripping there from a rain hat. They also said that umbrellas proved to be a pain. I took their advice and never looked back, until I realized that sometimes I'd be OK with my little travel umbrella given to me by British Airways on my last student/teacher/stray adult trip to Europe in 2001 when some of us got upgraded to Business Class--wow, that was superb! I love that little umbrella which easily slips into one of the water bottle pockets in my everyday purse. Very seldom do I have to use it because when rain is predicted, I wear my hooded raincoat. It's a back-up I'm blessed to have with me.



I like this one a whole lot. You can see the raindrops on the Chevy.



Nope, this car show's not going to the dogs even though this dog came prepared for the weather.



One more photo that gives you an idea of the rain.

Rain protection, again. It's Portland, y'all. You should have heard the rain a few minutes ago, Monday night as I prepared this post. Wow!

I took this photo while parked in a Zipcar. I rolled down the window--well, I pushed the button and the window went down--and took the photo quickly so that not too much rain came inside the car. Not the best conditions for taking a photo of this innovative bike rack at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, but since I'm rarely in The Pearl, I threw caution to the wind. This photo is straight out of the camera. Serendipity that I got another umbrella in use.

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!

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.

On the street, July 24, 2010, a lavender umbrella and a breeze

Sunny, breezy morning. As the woman waits to cross West Burnside at NW 21st Avenue, the breeze swirls around her head, lifts strands of her hair. The lavender umbrella makes a bit of shade, enough to satisfy her. Is she worried that her umbrella will be blown inside out?


She crosses the street and continues south on SW 21st Avenue, every glistening hair in place, no evidence of the breeze left behind. Intact, the umbrella still functions.

Another U for you

Useless Umbrella


For you, in sun-bleached color, evidence of the reason I don't carry an umbrella in Portland.

P. S. I'm posting early because Mama and I are out for celebratory fun. Watch for photos soon!