A suprising February sunrise

For a few minutes Tuesday morning I ate my oatmeal on autopilot, seated at the kitchen table, enthralled by this sunrise. Glorious.

What would you order?

Downtown Portland, a November evening right after work, and a question for you.

ABC Wednesday - F is for Funky

Since my first full day as a Portlander back in June 2006, I've wanted to take a photo of this sign. Finally I got the chance a week or so ago. I am excited to share it with y'all as my ABC Wednesday F photo.

How about that HBO logo? Is that from the '80s? And how about the design of the sign?

Way cool funky.

Finally, I'd like your opinion as to what in the world a COMM Discount is? See it there, on the red sign in the white letters, to the left of SENIOR? I'm at a complete loss as to something it could logically mean. All I can think of is community which would explain the number of beds advertised.

Mt. Hood from our neighborhood, Portland's Alphabet District

On Feb. 18 after Kay and I had gone to pick up Mama's prescriptions, we walked an extra block on our way back to the apartment. That's when we saw this fantastic view of Mt. Hood from a sidewalk. That big ol' mountain is over 60 miles away! It's great that the mountain is so large because we can see the snow without having to buy snow tires or chains!

Our golden boy has flown home.

Flat Stanley flew to Mississippi today with Kay. He'll be back in school soon. Good-bye, FS!

What tales would this tree tell, if only it could talk.

This tree is located on NW Everett, east of our apartment a few blocks. I took this photo walking to the bus last Friday morning; the tree stopped me in my tracks.

PPB at NW 3rd and Couch

I took this photo on Feb. 15 while I waited for my second bus. Have you ever seen a neon sign for a police precinct?

Grapefruit, Revealed

Thanks to Tog of Coral Gables Photo for the information that this grapefruit is really a pomelo. According to Wikipedia:

The pomelo (or Chinese grapefruit, pummelo, pommelo, jabong, boongon, shaddock, jeruk Bali, or suha), Citrus maxima (Merr., Burm. f.), also Citrus grandis (L.), is a citrus fruit, usually a pale green to yellow when ripe, larger than a grapefruit, with sweet flesh and thick spongy rind.

Kay says the flesh was sweet, but not juicy. I didn't taste it; I just photographed it.

Flat Stanley at Multnomah Falls

Walking back to the car, we had to cross underneath the railroad tracks. Just as we approached a train whizzed by over our heads. Flat Stanley got a kick out of that, let me tell you! So did I. Here you see all of the engines and the last cars. This train is speeding west, toward the left of the screen, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. On the northern side of the Columbia River is the state of Washington. This is the direction that Lewis and Clark went as they explored the Gorge.

ABC Wednesday - E is for Enormous

Meet Kay, our bud from Mississippi with the enormous heart who has flown up here to stay with us until next Monday--all so that I can go to work every day and not worry about Mama! In Kay's left hand, she holds an enormous grapefruit that extraordinarily exceeds the expected size for a grapefruit. We got it Saturday evening at the local Fred Meyer. For the visual comparison, she holds a Granny Smith apple in her right hand.

Sunset beside Jim Fisher Volvo?

I took this photo facing east. Honest. Facing east. Yet you see what appears to be a bit of a beautiful sunset there to the right of Jim Fisher Volvo on the south side of West Burnside. This was yesterday evening when Kay and I took our walk after watching the Daytona 500.

Our Daytona 500 Spread and a Pleasant Window

Thanks to everyone for sharing in our joy that Mama and Duncan are home.

Here's our race-day food, which Lamont called a "white trash party in the Northwest Hills," with humor and respect, not putting us down one bit. We all got a laugh out of his observation. Left to right, front row, there's salsa and cashews; second row, BBQ-sauced beef cocktail sausages wrapped in wheat bread (Kay put mustard and pickle relish on hers); third row, sliced cheddar cheese, sliced cacio de roma (sheep's cheese), sliced granny smith and golden delicious apples; fourth row, white zinfandel, Mission tortilla chips and a great big bowl of fresh fruit. We enjoyed ourselves.


About the race itself, our guys didn't win, but the two guys we didn't want to win didn't win, either. Confused? Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of our guys (mine and Kay's), came in 9th; Jeff Gordon (Kay's guy and he's OK with me, too, now that he's a daddy) came in 39th. But, most important is that fact that neither Tony Stewart nor Kyle Busch won. Yea, Ryan Newman!

By the way, I was a bit uptight with 35 laps to go and poured myself a second glass of wine. Relaxed me right nice--I only hollered a little bit.

Afterwards, Kay and I went for a walk, visiting the two thrift stores within six blocks. I got this neat photo of a lovely window in a nearby house that has been converted into apartments.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Duncan and Mama, together again, the evening of February 16, 2007. I took the photo, of course, and Kay is on the couch across from the recliner. We're stocked up on groceries for the week and party food for tomorrow's Daytona 500. Our bottoms will be glued to our chairs in front of the TV for hours and hours. Can't wait!

Mama's Home!

Remember the asparagus and sheep's cheese? The sweet potatoes? Here's a plate of it along with some boneless, skinless chicken tenders and a glass of sweet iced tea. I took this photo of my Tuesday evening supper.


Mama's home! She's in her recliner, trying to keep up with the teens on Jeopardy and eagerly awaiting Wheel of Fortune. We've eaten supper, I've washed the dishes, and we're going to watch Trackside on the Speed Channel after Mama's two favorite shows.

We had leftovers for supper. I am extremely proud to report that Mama ate almost all of her asparagus, saying, "It's good, but it's green. You know me and green." She ate one chicken tender and about three quarters of a cup of sweet potato. Then she said, "I'm good and full!"

Tomorrow I'll give you the latest on Duncan. The vet said today that he's continuing to improve and that I surely can come to get him tomorrow. Yippee!

Thanks again, everyone!

Immortal--I like that word in relation to music, among other things.

I've enjoyed looking at this since right after we moved here in June, 2006. It's on SE Belmont, across from the Walgreen's that's on the corner of SE 39th and Belmont. One of these days I'll get a night shot of it in all its neon splendor. According to several reviews I found online, the store and its staff are splendiferous themselves--it appears they sell vintage and restored pianos.

I took this photo from the 15 bus on Sunday when Duncan and I were on our way to visit Mama. Now that she's coming home tomorrow, we won't have to do that any more. Hooray! And hooray, Duncan continues to improve. The vet is pleased with his progress which I hope and pray continues tomorrow, too. The plan is for me to bring him home on Saturday. Also, our friend Kay flies in on Saturday afternoon. That means we three--and Duncan--can watch the Daytona 500 NASCAR race together on Sunday, something we've enjoyed in the past, down home in Mississippi. By the way, Junior won the first Gatorade Duel, a 150-mile sort of pre-race that sets the field of starters for the race. That means he starts in 3rd place on Sunday. Hooray!

Which way? Before I forget to say it, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

I'm so glad that I found this yellow sign. It describes practically perfectly how I've been feeling lately--not all of the time but a good deal of the time. I'm either the one doing the remote control, or I'm the unoccupied cab. At any given moment, it's a toss-up as to which one. The key word there, though, is operate. I persevere; I operate.

See the detour signs? That's how my life has felt the rest of the time lately, like I'm not going down the road in the usual direction or manner, but I'm bound to get where I'm going some time, some how. I persevere; I operate.


I believe where I'm going is the future, and it's coming from every different direction.

Duncan's got pancreatitis, is at the vet's on IV fluids and meds; I'll get another report Thursday morning. He might be OK, but we don't know for sure until enough time has passed to see how the meds are working (or not). We had another essentially sleepless night, and I'm happy that he's being cared for by people who care about him which means I can rest well.

Mama's coming home Friday--hip, hip, hooray! My sons and I are working out the logistics of that happy happening. Our friend Kay from Mississippi is still flying up here to help us. My brother Howard and his wife Vanessa are working on the air travel for her. As I understand it, Mama will have physical therapy at home for a period of time and will use a walker for a period of time.

We'd all like to thank y'all again for every kind and positive thought, heartfelt prayer and visit to the blog.

I'm on autopilot now, taking a detour by the couch, on my way to the bed in a couple of hours.

ABC Wednesday - D is for Doorman

I took these two photos on October 16, walking to work in the morning. Wasn't it splendid of the Heathman Hotel's doorman Jeff Lazarus to pose with the little guy for me? In the second photo, the doorman's gone back to his post at the right side of the doorway--you can see just a bit of him there.

The Heathman is on the corner of SW Broadway and Salmon. Here's some history about the building of the hotel. You can see a better version of that 1938 photo of the hotel here. In the older photo, Broadway is the longer street, running sort of up hill. There's an awning over the front door--that's the same spot where Flat Stanley and I met the doorman, almost 70 years later. Unreal.

Here's a photo that I took on Oct. 24, so that you could see the doorman at work. I'm assuming that the other guy is a valet or bellman. All I know about hotels, I learned from those wonderful old black and white movies, so I could be completely wrong about that very tall young man.


Update: Mama continues to improve; we're all so glad for that. Duncan's problems have returned. We're going back to the vet in the morning.

Fire Escape Elements

The Board of Trade Building, on the corner of SW 4th and Oak, downtown Portland, Oregon--do you like it better in black and white or color? I can't decide myself.



If I had Photoshop for an iBook, could I make the photos sharper and therefore more attractive? Is that something called Photoshop Elements? Anyone? Anyone?

Update: Mama's talking about wanting to come home. We ought to find out something about it this week.

My favorite neighborhood neon sign, from a new perspective

There it is--the brilliant Volvo sign at Jim Fisher, on the corner of NW 21st and West Burnside. We're looking at if from the front window of a 15 bus, heading west on SW Morrison, last Friday night. Another great neon sign hides in the tree limbs to the left--the red letters of PGE Park at SW 18th and Morrison.

Things I'm thankful I could do on the first few waking hours of my first day off, this weekend, or any weekend for that matter

Duncan woke up at 4:50 a.m. The sweet little dog has no understanding of the concept of the work week and the week end. However, he can go back to sleep with the best of them. It was 7:15 a.m. before we got up for good on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008. I fed him and myself, then got busy with my day-off-chores, all for the most part of my own choosing.

By the way, Merriam-Webster has three definitions of chore. The one that pertains here says a chore is a routine task or job, that the word has been around since 1746, that it comes from chare which dates from before the 12th century and comes from Middle English char turn, piece of work, from Old English cierr; akin to Old English cierran to turn. I like that, a piece of work. That's what I ended up with four hours later, some fine pieces of work, as in piece of work remarkable products (Free Dictionary online defines a piece of work as a remarkable person, achievement, or product.) And after that four hours' work, Duncan and I visited with Mama at Mt. Tabor.

It all began with the laundry. I loaded the dirty stuff into my old rolling black bag and put my laundry necessities in my laundry purse. I turned the oven on to heat it up, and then I headed for the elevator. Duncan looked up at me from his chair beneath the living room window, snuggled in his navy blue fleece blanket.

Lynette's Laundry Purse

Peaking out of this over-the-shoulder, multi-pocket, lightweight bag you see my keys--the daisy keyring bears the discoloration of much use--and to the left of it you see the top of my very old, still functioning cell phone. Sticking up out of one of the pockets you see the pink-zippered bag; it contains a scoop and several scoops of Shaklee's Get Clean Fragrance Free Laundry Concentrate. My stash of quarters fill the bottom of the plastic bag with the little flowers on it. It costs $1.25 to wash and $1 for an hour's drying. Also in the pocket but out of sight are several sheets of Bounce Outdoor Fresh Scent dryer sheets and Shout Color-Catcher sheets--they keep colors from bleeding onto other fabrics.

If I didn't have this laundry purse filled with these necessities, how many times do you think I'd be riding the elevator back and forth to get something that I forgot? Or how many times do you think I would have locked myself out of our apartment on the 4th floor just because I was doing what I ought to be doing--heading to the first floor with the laundry? Double-digit times is my guess.

Elevator door on 4th floor


Elevator controls


First I washed a load in each of those machines. Now they're drying in the bottom two dryers.If you look closely, you can see Mama's polka dotted PJs in the window of the dryer on the right.

Once the laundry's in the washers, I head back upstairs to start cooking.


I washed, dried, and wrapped in foil three nice-sized orange-colored sweet potatoes and five firm Yukon Gold potatoes. Once I put them in this pan, I placed them in the oven and set the timer for one hour.


In the dutch oven, I browned an onion and some ground beef, sprinkled on some black pepper and paprika, then added a can of Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, two cans of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, one can of black beans, one can of kidney beans, let the entire concoction get really heated up, turned down the heat and set the lid on top, leaving a slit for the escape of heat, and headed back down to the laundry room.


Here's the clean laundry, either hanging on hangers or resting on the rolling black bag, waiting to be folded and put into the bag.


Back upstairs the place was so warm that I decided to open the kitchen window. Fresh, cool air, no rain. Wonderful.

Next I got out the asparagus to blanch. No, I'm not going to eat asparagus with chili--Leland, my 29-year-old son who can cook up a storm, just like his 32-year-old brother Lamont, wondered. I'm going to eat asparagus with sweet potato and sauteed boneless, skinless chicken tenders at some point this week. I'll saute the asparagus then and sprinkle it with Ossau-Iraty sheep's milk cheese. I'll make sauteed, thick-sliced breakfast potatoes with the Yukon Golds, along with a tomato and some eggs, I'll have a delicious scramble.




I especially like this chilled, bright green asparagus against the yellow plastic strainer. After it dripped dry, I put the asparagus in some paper towels and then inside a plastic bag, zipped shut until later on in the week.


Here's Duncan inside the shoulder-strap bag I decided he should ride in while we took the bus to see Mama. In the zipped-shut plastic bag, I have a container with some chili, a Yukon Gold wrapped in foil, and a bit of Mama's favorite margarine in a snack bag. Those are her folded clothes in the bag, and you can see Duncan's leash, too. That wad of silver duct tape on it holds it together rather efficiently--down in Mississippi he got tangled up in the legs of some deck chairs and proceeded to chew it almost in two before we could stop him!

We rode the elevator down and went through the front door, starting our walk to the bus stop at the corner of NW 21st and Burnside, to wait for the 15.

Our building's front entrance

Duncan rides in his bag, atop the black rolling bag placed on the seat beside me. That way he could look out the window as we rode east on SE Belmont.



Isn't this an interesting window display? And does that look like an arts and craft bazaar going on inside the Aalto Lounge? I wonder.

We visited with Mama in the sitting area--she was waiting for us there on the love seat because I had called her cell phone when we had 20 blocks to go. She waved at us from her window, the 6th one, not the 7th one like I previously reported, and then walkered herself right down the hall. She is getting stronger, she really is. I could only last a couple of hours in the stifling, stultifying heat coming out of the ceiling vents. Knowing full well how my sinuses and/or head react to being over-heated, I had to call it quits and head home. Thank goodness Mama understands. And she and her roomie decided to open their window for a while in their room, making me have hope that they'd be somewhat comfortable.

Duncan and I waited about 25 minutes for the 15. Here's what I could see as I sat there, waiting.

In some circles, this sign says the truth. The man can certainly play the guitar.


When not re-reading that spray-painted statement, I was looking at my cute little dog, patiently waiting in his bag. I thought for a moment or two about walking part way, but my feet had swollen so in the heat at Mt. Tabor that all I really wanted to do was sit in the cool air, circling one ankle, then circling the other, restoring my feet to normal by the time the bus arrived.

On the way home from Mt. Tabor, I've noticed this entire building covered in plastic, with signs posted here and there that no doubt name the company or companies working inside. So, I finally got a photo of sorts, for my final one in this post.

It's particularly interesting to me because it's ghost-like look matches very well it's catty-cornered neighbor--the Lone Fir Cemetery.

Duncan and I got home, ate, and settled in to watch NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout, an exhibition race that my fav driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., won!

Saturday was a good day.

Riding home from Mt. Tabor

Here I am, Friday night on the 15, heading home from Mt. Tabor. Mama and I had played Scrabble for a while, in the sitting area. She was having a pretty good evening and felt like sitting on the edge of her seat as she searched her tiles and the board, looking for a high scoring word. We didn't get to finish the game because I needed to get home to Duncan, but it was neck and neck the whole time.

By the way, I'm beside myself right now--happy, happy, joy, joy--Dale Earnhardt Jr. just won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona! Y'all NASCAR fans are either as excited as I am, or you're mighty upset. From NASCAR.com:

It didn't take long for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to break in his new car. Junior, who is in his first year driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won his first race in the No. 88 Chevrolet by dominating Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout.

Earnhardt worked his way to the front at Daytona International Speedway via the draft early in the first 20-lap segment. After the 10-minute break in the exhibition race, Junior commanded the majority of the second 50-lap segment by working with new teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon on the outside line.

Tony Stewart was a late threat, but he couldn't overcome the Hendrick freight train. He did manage to slip by Earnhardt for the lead with nine laps to go.

Kurt Busch then brought out the race's fourth caution due to a cut tire with six laps remaining. The top nine cars stayed out while the rest of the field pitted.

On the double-file restart with three to go, Stewart got a strong jump but Earnhardt got a run on the outside with the help of Johnson hooked on his bumper.

Earnhardt grabbed the lead as the draft came off Turn 4 and took the white flag. He kept his car in the middle of the two primary lanes and held off Stewart and Johnson for the victory.

Stewart finished second, followed by Johnson, Gordon and Reed Sorenson. The fourth Hendrick car, Casey Mears, wound up sixth.

It was Earnhardt's first trip to Victory Lane, albeit an exhibition race, since the spring Richmond race in 2006.

Northwest Library

In May after I made one of my then many stops at the Northwest Library, on the corner of NW 23rd Avenue and Thurman, I took this photo, facing southwest. I guess you'd call it southwest, but to me it's more west than south. Anyway, the library is in a building that the Multnomah County Library Web page says has been a pharmacy, a potter's workshop and a winery and café. It's deceptively spacious once you go through the door there on the cut-off corner of the building. Here's some info from the site, about this branch of the Multnomah County Library system: This library offers books as well as audio and visual materials, periodicals and electronic resources in English and Spanish that can be accessed on site or from a home computer. Northwest customers have access to Multnomah County Library's systemwide catalog of two million books and other library materials.

Since discovering photo-blogging, I'm not reading books as often as I used to, so it's been a while since I went to the Northwest Library or the main branch downtown. I can get to that one easily after work, from either the 15 or the 18 bus. Another reason I'm not reading as much--I fall asleep easily now without having to read. I like that, too, which really surprises me considering how much I've always loved to read.

Update: Mama slept all night! She told me early this morning when I called as I rode the bus to work, "I feel like a new woman." Isn't that grand? And Captain Fred, from our Christmas Ship Parade ride back in December on my birthday, came to visit her this afternoon. She certainly enjoyed that, especially since she'd had a good night's rest.

Shadow Letters

Walking west on the Hawthorne Bridge approach ramp, looking east. That's where I stood to take this photo last April. The shadows of the letters appealed to me, as did being level with the top of the building's roof.

Update: Mama has pulled a muscle on the left side of her back, coughing. She's in a mess with this right now. The doctor prescribed a cough syrup with codeine, which make her nauseous. So, about 20 minutes ago she got a dose of cough syrup along with a dose of her nausea medicine. What we hope for is a cessation in the coughing as well as a good night's sleep.

Duncan's doing very well, I'm proud to report.

As for me, I'm still eating right, walking a little, and sleeping as much as possible.