Seasons Greetings and some more Monday photos of Portland's snow show

I walked about eight blocks from the apartment to the MAX stop across the street from PGE Park. On the way I stopped to get this shot of one of the big heads in front of the stadium, at SW 20th and SW Morrison. The red lights in his eyes are, on the left of the photo, the P, and on the right of the photo, the K, from PGE PARK. See the next photo for a visual explanation; it's the lower, smaller PGE PARK.

Here's a wide shot. When I looked at the photo just now, in the large size, I got really tickled by the way the handrail splits the mouth into two giant teeth and how the snow on the small overhand roof shows in the the two eyes, making it look like he's got his eyes barely open, slits even, like some people's eyes get when they're laughing.

And here's the other big head, on the corner of SW Morrison and SW 18th. The yellow in the eye on the right of the photo is a fire hydrant diagonally across the intersection.


Oh, good, a bus! I get closer. I see the driver get back on. He's standing there, drinking coffee. I walk to the door. He opens it. I ask, "Are you stuck?" "Yes," he replies. "Oh, crap!" I say. We wish each other Merry Christmas and I continue to walk. If I'd been able to get on the 20, which was trying to turn around at SW 20th Place and SW Morrison, a place that is never used for that purpose by a bus, I would have missed my photos of the big heads at PGE Park. See, there's a plan to all of this.

It looks like such a normal bus, doesn't it? Hey! I just looked at this photo in the large size and got a nice surprise. Can you see the seven pairs of shoes hanging from the wire above the bus? Why do people throw their shoes like that? I wonder.

Luckily, I caught a MAX right after I got to the stop. Then I got off at SW 4th and walked to SW 3rd, headed for a stop for the 4, my second bus. On the way, though, I figured if I saw a 10, I could catch it just as well and end up at work, too. So, when I first saw this bus at the 10 stop, I though, "Oh, good a bus." Then I saw the sign on the back, "Not in Service." Another stuck bus. I'd heard on the TV before I left about several being stuck in the snow, but I didn't expect that downtown since it's plowed pretty well. I kept walking.

How do those little-looking wires keep the chains on those heavy buses?


Here's another Portland icon that I adore, the Thompson Elk in between SW 3rd and SW 4th, on SW Main.




One more beloved icon, from Pioneer Courthouse Square, "Allow Me." Actually, he looks a bit possessed, doesn't he? With that snow rubbed into his eyes, nose and mouth?


Working folks were out and about. Like this man shoveling snow--I took this photo through the window of the MAX.

And this UPS man, helped by a woman on the street.

And this guy, plowing snow around a federal building on the corner of SW Salmon and SW 3rd.

And this man blowing snow on the corner of SW Main and SW 3rd, in front of the Justice Center which houses the Portland Police Bureau and the Multnomah County Detention Center, a jail.

The police person(s) in this Portland Police Bureau car.

The sheriff's officer person(s) in this Multnomah County Sheriff's Office truck.

The driver of this MAX that I took downtown, and the driver of the one I took back from downtown to PGE Park after work.

And this person plowing the MAX rails. The downtown rails are set into the streets, so the snow has to be scraped off them.

The woman driving this 4 bus over the Hawthorne Bridge. See the two skiers? They're on the sidewalk where I walked across the bridge when it snowed in January, 2007. I decided against walking over the bridge today because it was much colder.

And the young woman driving this snow plow on Burnside.


Quirky sights from today.











Here's an update for the sidewalk I've been photographing with my back to Burnside, the motorcycle from yesterday, the ice-art-dog's-head on the pickup hood, the scooters and the car across from the kitchen window.