UPDATE and my interesting morning TriMet commute

UPDATE: Made it through today fine. Ate leftover meatloaf and rice for supper. Going to have pre-chemo blood work tomorrow morning, then an appointment with the chemo doctor. Chemo Round 5 is Thursday. Thank you for every single prayer, for your continued love and concern.



Straight out of the camera, a photo I shot through the 12 bus windshield when we joined the traffic stopped by a bridge lift on the Burnside Bridge. The giant square looming over the vehicles is part of the bridge itself. That's the Big Pink in the background, the multi-story building. I've never been stopped going westward by a bridge lift, only a couple of times going eastward, on this particular bridge. After we started moving again, there was no evidence that I could see of the vessel that caused the bridge to have to open to allow it to pass.



Same photo altered at BeFunky with HDR1. What's your favorite detail? Your most unexpected detail? My favorite, the lighted traffic directional sign in the pickup truck bed, it's two leftward-pointing arrows guiding your eye to the part of the bridge that is raised. My most unexpected, the bit of the bus driver's fan, top center, photographed along with lots of reflections.



Straight out of the camera, zoomed in on the raised part of the bridge.



Same photo, altered at BeFunky with HDR1. I used the HDR effect to give you the best chance to see details--I like how it increases the sheen on the Big Pink windows. By the way, it lightly sprinkled rain at this point in my morning commute.



Straight out of the camera. When I realized the part of the neon Portland Oregon sign could be seen past the pickup truck, I zoomed in for this photo. You also get a good view of the pavement and the lane markings on the raised part of the bridge. Plus, you're able to see the 20 bus way ahead of the 12 bus that I'm in. I'll bet the 19 bus had to stop not too far behind us. Once the traffic started to move again, lots of vehicles and at least three buses passed us, going east. Bridge lifts occur frequently in Portland because we're a city with maritime traffic which comes from the Pacific Ocean on the Columbia River and then onto the Willamette which all of our downtown bridges cross, plus the St. Johns Bridge which is north of downtown. It, along with the Fremont, the Marquam, the Tilikum Crossing and the Ross Island bridges do not lift because the were constructed with plenty of clearance and are much younger than those bridges which have to raise for river traffic of certain heights. There's one more which I assume will not have to lift because it's being replaced by a new bridge, the Sellwood Bridge.



Same photo, altered at BeFunky with HDR1. I like this one a whole lot because there are details all over the place, from houses over in the West Hills to birds on the lamp posts alongside the sidewalk. 



Once I noticed those birds, I decided to look at the photo's original size at Flickr. That's when I noticed two birds, one on each of the two shortest poles, at least they look shortest because most of their height is blocked by the lighted traffic directional sign. Both birds face north, their rusty red feathers smooth, their white tails glowing, the shapes of their heads discernible because they are in profile. I think they are hawks, and the rest of the birds are pigeons trying to ignore their juxtaposition with two birds of prey. I tried cropping so that you could experience these particular details. The result is so-so. So, if you like, please click on the image which will take you to my Flickr account. Once there click at the bottom right of the photo on View all sizes which appears when you hover over the downward-pointing arrow. Once there, click on view Original and scroll around to your heart's content. Do you think that's a drone flying visible between two poles to the right? Do you have any idea what kind of hawks these are? Are they even hawks? Thanks!