UPDATE and Leland with the heritage tree from pioneer times in Portland's South Park Blocks

UPDATE: I made it through the night fine, slept until about 5:30 a.m. I stayed awake until maybe 6:45 a.m., then fell back asleep until 8 a.m. Thank goodness! Thank you so much for your continued prayers, love, and concern. Leland and I had a good time together today. He came up with a neat event for us to check out, The Artisans Cup, a bonsai tree display at the Portland Art Museum in downtown Portland in an area known as the South Park Blocks. After that, we ate a late lunch, then went to see Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation at the Laurelhurst Theater, a vintage neighborhood jewel that shows second run and classic movies with a realistic ticket price; when I'm well, I am able to walk the ten blocks there and back; today, thank goodness for Leland's car. After he brought me home, I managed to see almost then entire second half of the Mississippi State win over Auburn. Go, Dawgs!



My darling younger son Leland agreed to stand here for me to take a photo. He's pushed his sunglasses up onto his head, and his hair's going every which way on his left--I love it! When I noticed if he moved to his left a bit the sun would be on his face better, he graciously moved for me and smiled again. I love this photo--I cropped it so that you could get a good look at this young man who got me out and about today for a bonsai tree exhibit and a movie, with a very late lunch at Burgerville in between. I ended up too tired to make it to Fred Meyer to get groceries, so he's going there tomorrow to get mine for me. Sweetheart, y'all, he's a sweetheart.

In this photo, take a good look at the width of the trunk and the height of the root area at the base of the trunk--I guess that's what you call it.  Now, scroll down to the fourth photo and compare, please. I'm amazed at the way this tree has grown, in the midst of all that goes on in downtown Portland and in such encumbered space for its roots.



If you look closely at this wide shot, the first of the three that I took, you can tell that Leland's left foot looks much more comfortable in this position. In the cropped photo, the second of the three and taken after I asked him to move to his left, you can see that he's managing to stay on those roots with his left foot in an awkward position. Thank goodness he didn't have to stand like that but a few seconds! Thanks, Leland.



Here's a wide shot of the tree that I took on the way back to the car. Perfect weather today!



Here's photo taken from almost the same spot as the one I took today with Leland standing on the tree. I took this one on August 29, 2009. Be sure to compare it with the top photo in the post, please. Are you as amazed as I am by the amount that the tree has increased in girth in the past six years?



There's a sign on the tree--I took this photo on August 29, 2009. The sign is still there today.



I like this sign, too, at the base of the tree in the sidewalk--another photo from August 29, 2009.

This is information that I found and put on the blog, back on October 12, 2009, when I decided to post about the Heritage Tree: I just love the Internet. I've found a pdf of a brochure or booklet, "Oregon Geology," published by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, from November 1985. On pg. 7, I've read about the sidewalk plaque. "At the northwest corner of the intersection of Main and West Park there stands a magnificent london (sic) plane tree (Platanus acerifolia) (a) that was planted in 1800 by Sylvester Farrell. At the base of the tree, a gneiss marker indicates incorrectly that the tree is a sycamore (which is a close relative of the london (sic) plane tree). The marker also left out an "L" in the gentleman's last name. The tree has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the sole survivor from pioneer times in the immediate area." The gneiss marker is in the photo above, embedded in the sidewalk.



Last photo of the tree--I walked east and turned back to get this one on August 29, 2009. I didn't have the energy to do that today, well, I saved what energy I had for viewing and taking photos at the bonsai tree exhibit that Leland and I had decided to see, inside one of the Portland Art Museum's buildings. The Artisans Cup and its bonsai trees turned out to be grand. Photos soon!