Quirky find of mine, on SE Powell

I took this photo as Leland drove by in our old 1996 Buick, on October 23, 2010. I'd noticed the mannequin and the hubcap structure on another west-bound trip on SE Powell, so I had my camera out. Leland couldn't slow down much, too much traffic on SE Powell, even mid-day Saturday. The mannequin's sort of blurry, but I like how the photo turned out anyway. As best I can determine from Google and Google Maps, this business is at 7057 SE Powell and is known as Hubcap Headquarters. I can't say for sure because the building which is to the right of the hubcap structure in my photos is red, the one at Google Maps is tan. And the hubcap structure is not in the Google Maps Street View.

Seen from the Buick on May 9, 2009 ... click!

I'm driving the Buick--I think I was on East Burnside near SE 22nd. Out of the corner of my eye as I slow down for a traffic signal, I notice something. Is that a stuffed giraffe riding in the passenger seat, I wonder. I grab the camera, point it over my shoulder, and click. The lady still grinned as I took the camera down and gave her the thumbs up.

Do you see another critter in the car?

Seen from the TriMet bus on May 23 ... click, click, click

A classy-looking lady walks south on SW 3rd in downtown Portland--I was on my way to work and saw her as I sat on on the opposite side of the bus.

Which of these three photos do you like the best? Do you like the frame that the bus window trim created? The way her umbrella contrasts with the shadow? The way her black bag fits perfectly in that dip on the window trim in the second photo? How strong she looks?






It was a busy weekend, and I missed getting to blog and look at everyone's blogs! Here's the rundown. Early Saturday morning, I went to the Farmers' Market and came home with the rolling black bag stuffed with veggies (three kinds of lettuce, small, thin-skinned potatoes, rainbow chard, Italian kale, curly kale, asparagus, baby bok choy, fennel,and tomatoes),fruit (Fuji apples, Bosc pear),and mushrooms (morels), plus another smaller bag with a Pine State biscuit for Mama, some out-of-sight-delicious pork rillette, and a quart of strawberries. It took quite a while to get all of it prepped and into the frig.

Mama fell in the bathroom right after I got back from the market, but thank goodness, she didn't break anything! She's been a bit confused and is quite sore, but by Monday evening she began to feel more normal, not so "shaken up" as she put it. I stayed home from work to keep an eye on her on Monday, especially since she felt much worse on Sunday than she had on Saturday.)

Later on Saturday I went on an errand and ended up with a flat front passenger tire on the Buick and had to sit while an angel-of-a-stranger put on the spare--I was able to pull off the road in a shady, safe spot in front of a convenience store--I made him take some money for all of his work, let me tell you, I couldn't have done it myself--Lamont was at work, and Leland couldn't get to where I was because there wasn't another car available. Then I had to sit in Les Schwab to get two new ones put on the front of the car--it was a rotten valve stem that caused the flat, or at least the area around the valve stem was rotten, I don't know for sure. Anyway, the other front tire was OK, but I decided I'd rather have two new ones on the front, so that what the young man did. And I had him check the valve stem and its area on the passenger rear tire because just last Saturday, Leland had to have that valve stem replaced. So, maybe it was the valve stem that had gone bad on that front passenger tire, right? To tell you the truth, what went right so outweighed what went wrong about the whole flat tire thing, that I am definitely not complaining. I could have been going faster on the highway instead of in stop-and-go traffic. There could have been no where safe and shady to pull off the road. There could have been no angel-of-a-stranger or nearby Les Schwab. It turned out the spare needed air, and I had even managed to pull off right around the corner from a gas station with an air machine!

On Sunday I made myself a new breakfast dish, I mean I made it up and cooked it, then I ate it--Mama was still asleep and doesn't like . Took pictures which I will post soon, with appropriate details. Then Leland came to get me so that we could go to Fred Meyer to get the rest of our groceries. By the time we got it home and upstairs, I was beat, bushed, and just wanted to sit once it was all put away. Sit I did, until time for supper when I warmed up left-over roast, potatoes, and a dish I made up of leek, onion, turnip and arugula I had sauteed together in my olive/canola oil mixture.

On Monday, I dust-mopped, changed out our Dri-Z-Air containers by pouring out the water drawn from the air and filling the basket atop the catch basin with the little white balls that do the drawing. We keep one container in each closet to protect from moisture build-up. I also continued to rub Mama's sore spots with Shaklee's Joint and Muscle Pain Cream, natural plant extracts with pain-relieving cooling menthol. "It sure does help in a minute, too," Mama just said, adding "at least it does to me." She's right!

Anyway, I'm back.

Our Mother's Day Dogwood Blossoms for Everyone

We took a ride in the Buick on Mother's Day afternoon, through some streets in Southeast Portland. One particular dogwood, among dozens, stood close enough to the sidewalk that I was able to pull over and take a few photos. I held a small branch still and took this photo blindly pointing the camera toward that blossom. I know it's not in focus on the blossom, but still I do like this photo. The green grass in the background makes the photo, I think.


I took this one looking up into the tree.


I wanted to share it with all of you. I know I'm late on Mother's Day, but nevertheless, I'm sending out my best wishes to you.

Seen on the streets of Portland, No. 4

Waiting for the bus at the corner of SE 39th Avenue and SE Hawthorne Blvd. You can guess what caught my eye, right? The yellow plaid boots and the sort of leaf-patterned skirt. When I downloaded the photo, I thought, "How brave these young women of Portland dress themselves, mixing colors, designs, layers." I find I'm jealous and wonder should I try such nights and weekends out.

I'm in the Buick, heading south but stopped at the traffic signal, on Oct. 19, 2008.

Back-In Angle

Let me just say that this parking space presented me with a challenge. It's on the corner of SW 3rd and Ankeny where Voodoo Doughnut operates 24 hours a day, according to their Web site. That's for another post.


It took a maneuver or two, but I finally made it, inside the line, the bumper not bumped. This one and only time I've tried this was in March, when Mama felt like making her first outing to the Bijou Cafe, a little over a month after she came home from the skilled nursing facility. On our last trip to the Bijou, we rode the bus there, then went on our MAX ride.

Friday, July 11, 2008 ... Bicycle Parking on SE Belmont

Mama, Duncan and I went on a sort of field trip in the Buick Tuesday after work. After Lamont and Lindsay got the thing to start--they kept it attached to her Honda for almost half an hour before trying to turn it over--I knew we needed to drive it for a while. I circled the block and picked up Mama and Duncan, with the kids help getting the two of them downstairs and quickly walking Duncan. Then, we were off, cruising here and there after we crossed the Willamette River. I don't mean to give you the wrong idea, though, because we had a goal in mind, the Battery Exchange at SE 20th and Belmont where we planned to get the battery checked and/or buy a new one. Long story short, checked, bad cell, new one installed. Then, we off again, with the A/C on this time, a change of circumstances that Duncan especially appreciated.

On the way from there to our next goal, the Dairy Queen on SE Division, I spied two sets of this unique bicycle parking. I quickly picked up the camera, pointed and clicked--the traffic hardly moved, so I felt safe in doing this, realizing that I might have a photo of a curb or a wall or a post. You see the cropped photo above, and the original photo below.

Pleasing familiar

Driving the Buick. Stopped behind a bus. Glimpsed the photographer. Grabbed my camera. Clicked a couple.



Several definitions of the noun familiar at Merriam-Webster please me--2: one that is familiar; especially an intimate associate, a companion. And--4 a: one who is well acquainted with something b: one who frequents a place. How about this for the adjective familiar? 5 a: frequently seen or experienced, easily recognized, a familiar theme b: of everyday occurrence, a familiar routine

Do you feel a familiarity with a scene such as this?

Mama Update #4, and recently the Buick needed fixing, too

Dr. Lukacs explained what went on today to me by drawing a diagram of sorts. I'll do my best to explain. Mama's angiogram went well, revealing this and fixing that. First, there is stuff as hard as concrete, as he put it, completely blocking her right subclavian artery. They tried to break it, coming at it from both ends, to no avail. On the left subclavian artery, there are deposits narrowing it, but they were able to insert a stent there which has greatly improved the blood flow. She's in Cardiac Intensive Care, probably for overnight only, to be closely monitored. She's awake, aware and being a good girl, as she put it, because she wants to get fixed. Dr. Luckas said that there is the possibility she will need another procedure to take care of some blockage in her left carotid artery and/or also they will be evaluating her for the possibility of a by-pass of the 100% blocked right subclavian artery. We might find out a time frame tomorrow. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Now for the Buick and then I'm off to bed.

December 29 I drove to Andy's Auto Supply & Repair at SE 21st and SE Powell. The check engine light had come on and stayed on. The man hooked up some sort of boxy computer/reader thing to the car, said it was probably a glitch and if it came on again, return for further checking.

After that I asked if they'd check the serpentine belt because Jiffy Lube had mentioned that it needed replacing. I prefer to do things like that with locals instead of chains, know what I mean? The only reason I go to Jiffy Lube for the oil change is just that, the jiffy.


Even my untrained eye could see the crack and nicks in just one easily visible section of the belt, so I asked them to fix it. Anyway, Flat Stanley wanted to watch, naturally. The car went up, the man replaced the serpentine belt, the car came down, and the Buick was fixed. Flat Stanley smiled wider than ever! Me, too.


As an extra tidbit, here's the building to the left of Andy's front door. The man at Andy's told me the place used to be called the Two by Six and when the lease ran out, the name got changed to Lots A Luck, so the neon sign got reworked. Turned out right well, didn't it?

Rainy Musical Corner

First, yes, I took this photo from the Buick, while stopped at the traffic signal on SW 14th Avenue at West Burnside. No vehicle waited behind me, and when I saw the red umbrella and the red signs on both buildings, I picked up the D50 from the passenger seat and snapped several photos. I was on the way home after having a bit of work done on the car--photos to come another day.

Now for info about the businesses you see on each corner.

Situated on the northeast corner, where you see EM in the window, is Everyday Music. Read all about it here. You can see how much of the block the store occupies by the way I've cropped the photo below. The store is deep, too, and filled with waist-high, well-labeled, wooden bins of either CDs or albums, new and used. I have to make myself stay out of there because I can't make myself stop at just one CD. (Now you know one of my musical secrets--I'm not of the IPOD generation, yet.)


Across the street you see the edge of the Crystal Ballroom and its marquee. You can read all about this extremely popular facility here. I've been to one concert there, summer 2006. You probably realized right away that with a name like "ballroom," there are no rows and rows of seats, which we associate with indoor-music-venues. Everyone stands on the springy dance floor--I wore my motion-sickness-acupressure-wrist-bands and made it just fine; however, I was some kind of tired the next day, being somewhat of an old lady these days. Next time I attend an event there, I'll make sure to go early enough to get a seat in the balcony.

See El Debarge, New Year's Eve, on the sign? Lakeside will be there, too. The joint will be jumpin' for sure, with those two acts. Here's a blurb I found about the show on the Web: 9 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, $45 advance, $45 day of show, 21 and over. Celebrate the arrival of the new year with a pair of R&B legends: El Debarge, the sweet, soft and soulful voice behind massive '80s hits like "Rhythm of the Night" and "Who's Johhny?" and Lakeside, the veteran funk ensemble behind the groove juggernaut "Fantastic Voyage." Were I a bit younger as well as more financially flush, I'd be right there, dancin' in the New Year, from my seat and/or in the aisle!

Great Leaf Moments, A Series, III

Y'all know how fond I am of telling which direction I face when I take a picture. Can't do that this time. The minute I drove the Buick west on NW Johnson and turned right onto NW Westover Road, I soon lost track of direction.



I just kept turning onto the high road at each intersection. Looking at the Google map just now proved to be no help, either. The roads resemble curving pasta of different lengths, lying nearby and atop one another on a small dish. Suffice it to say that we went up and up, circled here and there, pulling to a stop wherever possible to take a few pictures. Mostly we went, "Look at that!" I couldn't stop because a vehicle was behind me, so I missed quite a few photo opportunities.

I managed to drive by one house three times, each time from a different direction. I recognized its almost two-stories high concrete retaining wall. Twice I drove by a nice flat concrete driveway where I could have turned around but for the fact that as I approached the driveway, all I could see underneath the concrete at is juncture with the roadway was space, empty space. The whole house, driveway, carport, everything is on stilts or pylons or whatever they call them. No was was I going to tempt fate with my toes, much less an entire automobile!





In spacious, flatter areas, streets widened but houses still sat atop steeply banked lawns, hiding behind well-kept plantings.

Great Leaf Moments, A Series, II

The Buick's headed north on NW 22nd Avenue. I was NOT driving and taking a photo, I promise. I stopped in the middle of the street once I realized there was not a car in sight behind me.

And I promise, I do NOT know the owners of all of these matching street-level accessory vehicles. Chalk it up to serendipity. Or as Mama would say, "You can see more drivin' than I can just ridin' and lookin'!"

Notice how flat the street is? Once it slopes down from West Burnside, it flattens out at our street, NW Everett, and stays flat all the way to the Willamette, as far as I can tell.