Abandoned on the street, No. 1

Boots near the side door of Presidential Court Apartments, NW 22nd and NW Everett. I took this photo May 5, 2009.

If they were taking photos, they caught everybody looking.

After work Friday, I stood at the corner of West Burnside and NW 22nd, wondering why on earth these three helicopters were there. People on all of the nearby sidewalks were looking up, too, wondering the same thing no doubt.

The two with the white paint on their sides hovered while the other one made wide loops. Every couple of minutes the two who hovered made their way a bit more north, eventually ending up on the north side of Burnside.

By the time I had walked north to the entrance to the Elephant's Deli parking lot, I took this last shot of the three, now over NW Davis. Once I got in the apartment, I went to the kitchen window to see if I could get another photo, but an apartment building stood between me and them. I never saw them come any farther north. And I don't have a clue as to why they were there either.

Spring is in the streets!

Forewarned is forearmed--is that how it goes? Anyway, what I'm trying to do is tell you that I know from past experience (last spring, summer and fall) that I cannot control myself when it comes to taking photos of Portland's flora.

Sunday afternoon I walked out of the apartment after watching the end of the NASCAR race in Atlanta where my favorite driver again finished third, crossed NW 22nd Avenue at Everett, and walked about 300 feet west. There I stopped and took this photo, one I've been wanting to get since last week when this huge camellia began to bloom in earnest. I wanted a blue sky for the background, to do honor to that tree. Besides that I got the tiny red leaves that color the top of that tree to the left, farther down the sidewalk. What a great time of the year!

Blossoms up close for you.

Next, I walked back to the corner on Everett and turned right onto NW 22nd, heading north to Glisan. Just before I reached that intersection, I saw this flowering tree, one that I remember well from last year.

It's amazing to me that so many gorgeous tiny flowers can appear from such a tiny spot on the trunk of the tree.

Do you know what kind of tree this is, please?

What signs of spring are you seeing again this year?

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.