Portland's Skyline, March 5, 2009

I took this with the CoolPix L12. For a week before I sent the D50 off for cleaning and maintenance, I took only the CoolPix with me, so that I could sort of wean myself off my digital SLR. The little one holds its on in some respects, but I will be so extremely, outta sight happy to get my hands on the D50 again!

Blue, continued, because I have several more photos to share

Earlier in October, when the D50 was at the camera hospital, I took this photo with that little CoolPix L12. It's the Orientale Motif Shop at 725 NW 23rd Ave., purveyors of jewelry, Oriental goods and foods. I don't have Photoshop, but I did set the camera to allow in more light. How about that electric blue sky?

Blazer Hoop-de-do!

You know some people say, "Let's go shoot some hoops!" when they really mean, "Let's go play basketball!" And you know that some people call a whole-lot-of-fun-goin'-on by the name hoop-de-do. That's exactly what I witnessed Wednesday night at the Rose Garden.

Mesmirized and hypnotized by the sights and sounds, I quickly fell under the spell of what I'm calling Blazer Hoop-de-do! This is how far gone I was--I didn't even think about getting my camera out of my tote bag!

When the Blazer Stunt Team came to sit down right in front of me, it finally hit me that I ought to be taking pictures. Off and on until I left the arena, I took a picture every now and then, some of which are OK, some of which are crooked, but I'm going to share some of them with you anyhow.



After one of the teams called for a time out, the stunt team rose to their feet and did, well, stunts. Here's part of one that happened right in front of me. I wonder if, at the second I got this shot, both are them were holding their breath? Pretty neat stunt to see up close and personal.

The Blazers wear their white home uniforms, while the Los Angeles Clippers are in their red away, or visiting team, uniforms. Blazers' No. 12, LaMarcus Aldridge shoots the second of two free throws; a Clipper had fouled him. I know it's the second free throw shot attempt, not the first one, because of way the guys are standing on each side of him, poised to jump into the air in case the ball doesn't go through the hoop. It did. Aldridge had a great night, scoring 21 points and making six rebounds.

So, it's raining in Portland. I still love the place.

In the Northwest Hills, all sorts of beautiful trees line the streets. This time of year, the leaves start to fall. When it rains hard enough to cause water to run in the streets, those leaves clump together and float to low places along the curbs and sidewalks. Drains become blocked. (Later on I'll show/explain how the City of Portland and Neighbors West Northwest deal with those leaves.) Look how the water rises into the air in a straight line. Is this an illustration for some sort of law of physics?

I think the drain must be clogged here, at the corner of NW 21st and Glisan, Tuesday about 5:30 p.m. I knew y'all would love to see the cars driving through the puddle that stretched from one corner half way out into the street. Slinging water, making ripples, the cars drove by every time the light changed. Safely out of range, I stood close to the Nob Hill Old Pharmacy Cafe, beneath a teensy little overhang, out of the rain, and snapped couple of shots. Look



It didn't rain all day long on Tuesday or Wednesday, just off and on, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. Wednesday evening while "Jeopardy" was on the TV, Mama and I heard hail hitting the windows on the east side of our apartment. I grabbed my CoolPix L12 and got this shot, though the screen and the closed window. You're looking at the streetlight on the corner; that's the Rose Plaza Apartments in the background. We heard it hailing for maybe two minutes, and the rain stopped in 10 minutes or so.

Circumstantial Series

Last Thursday night when I took this photo while standing in front of our building, I had no plans for a series. Circumstances dictated that I stay indoors after I returned from the dentist Saturday afternoon, and you now see below the only two photos I've taken in three days. That's some sort of sad-sounding milestone, let me tell you.

The first photo (above) is the Manhattan Apartments, across from our front door. Below, in the second photo, you see the Rose Plaza Apartments, which are diagonally opposite our building. The third photo is of the Elizabeth Apartments which we see from either the kitchen or living room windows. I don't think they're too bad, do you? The little CoolPix L12 saves my sanity once again!





I never, ever dreamed I'd be living on a four-apartment intersection, with fantastic sidewalks and nearby mass transist. At the risk of boring you with my repetitiveness, I love Portland!

So, my gums are healing from having two teeth pulled; the infection in my jaw is so much better that my face is returning to its regular shape. Therefore, I'll be out and about, headed for work on Tuesday, my camera in a Zip-loc bag because real rain is forecast. Perhaps I'll get a great shot of it falling, just for y'all.

Looking northwest, across the Willamette, at Portland's Downtown

I took this photo yesterday with my new camera, a Nikon CoolPix L12. The reason I have a new camera is that my Nikon D50 quit working on Sept. 11. The camera shop couldn't fix it, so it's gone to the camera hospital. I tried to take photos with my 2004 CoolPix, but I felt like I'd been rode hard and put up wet (tired), like I was running down the road out of alignment (frustrated), like the ground I walked on was spongy at best (worried). You get the picture.



In this close up of a portion of the skyline, you can see the green and red Hawthorne Bridge that crosses the Willamette River. It's to the left of the photo, at the bottom of the tall black-and-white-columned building, sort of hidden in the trees of Tom McCall Park. Those aren't really columns, of course. They just look like it.That's the Wells Fargo building. (The tall building to the right is nicknamed The Big Pink; it's officially the US Bancorp Tower.) The first time I walked across the river, I walked through falling snow that had quickly covered the bridge and the city with a couple inches of beautiful snow--back on Jan. 16. In fact, I've yet to walk across a different bridge.

The concrete line with vehicles on it is the Marquam Bridge which carries I-5 north from Mexico to Canada. I've driven south on this bridge, on the lower level. Not on the top level, northbound--not yet.