UPDATE and a quick look at the southernmost piece of public art across the street from work, with me also in two of the photos

UPDATE: I woke up at 5 a.m. and went back to sleep! I didn't wake up again until the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. I cannot remember the last time that happened, y'all! Pleased as punch! I nibbled while at work--Ritz crackers, green grapes, Cacio de Roma sheep cheese from Italy, Sun-Maid Raisins, Mariani Prunes, and water. So, since I knew I'd be pretty hungry after work and that the food I had cooked last night ended up tasting all wrong although in the past it had tasted very good--chemo-induced-taste-changes rampant this time--I decided to stop by Subway after I got off the bus near home. I walked in and ordered a six-inch tuna on wheat with shredded lettuce and tomato, an individual-sized bag of Lays Classic chips, and a cup of Coca-Cola. I walked on home and enjoyed every single bite! Then, I had two milk-chocolate-covered-dried cherries for dessert. Now, almost five hours later, I'm not hungry again. Anyway, it's too late to eat anything now if I want to be healthy about it, right? It's after 8 p.m. So, I've had a pretty good day. I'm making sure that I stay awake until a decent hour because I'd like to experience another great night's sleep.



When I got off the 6 bus near work, I decided to take some photos of myself with the public art in the background. I've grown to like this controversial work named Inversion Plus Minus. I thought it would look good behind my gray, oh-so-Portland-hat, that Lamont bought for me the last time I had chemo. He walked from Kaiser on Interstate over to Mississippi Avenue in NE Portland, ate lunch, and then noticed a boutique. He found this very soft hat. Surprisingly, it is made of bamboo and spandex and gets more comfortable every time I stretch it over my big head. In this photo, I've stopped on the traffic loop that has a sidewalk alongside it--it rises some feet from below where MLK runs south, so I'm facing north and standing below street level for SE Grand which is the street on the west side of my work building and is the street where the public art stands at the corner of SE Grand and the eastbound exit ramp of the Hawthorne Bridge.



Another shot so that you get an idea of the height of this sculpture. I'm standing up on SE Grand beside it now.



So you get the picture, here's one that I took of the southernmost piece of public art back in August, 2013. You can see the railing alongside the traffic loop I stood beside to take that first photo. You can see the Hawthorne Bridge which crosses over MLK, the lower street I mentioned when trying to let you know what I meant when I said that the traffic loop rises some feet from MLK. The traffic loop continues in a circle and takes traffic straight onto the westbound ramp onto the Hawthorne Bridge which is not visible but is to the right of the photo, in real life.



See, there's the westbound ramp going onto the bridge, as well as the northernmost piece of this public art installation, Inversion Plus Minus. I took this photo in October, 2013.



And one more that I took in May, 2013, showing where I get off the bus down there near MLK which is the street with the two vans, the car, and the pickup on it. The sidewalk is up against the outer edge of the curve, along that wall which gets progressively shorter until it is waist-high when you reach the sidewalk seen at the base of the public art.

#9, Hawthorne Bridge, focus on the circle between the eastbound & the westbound ramps and/or the intersections of the ramps with the surface streets

I took these photos on Thursday, December 1, about 7:30 a.m.


A close view of the finished sidewalk around the edge of the circle. This sidewalk is a massive improvement over what used to be there. I imagine its being there will encourage people to walk on that side of southbound MLK. The trees next to the sidewalk were planted early this week--the holes were dug last Wednesday, a day of high wind and rain. No one worked on Thanksgiving Day, plus I noticed that the trees were still lying on their sides, just like they'd been left on Wednesday. The street that goes out of sight beneath the westbound ramp of the Hawthorne Bridge is SE MLK. If you look closely, you can see the Big Pink rising in the distance at the left side of the photo.


Another edge of the circle where you can see three of the built-into-the-curb drains, the rock placed between the plantings strip and the curb. That angled strip of gray is the rock-filled run-off from the drain you can see in Wednesday, 11/30/2011's post, the third of three photos. In this photo the cars and the truck with Milky Way written on it are stopped at the light at SE Grand Avenue and SE Madison. The traffic goes one way north on SE Grand.


And here we have the completed sidewalk across from the circle. The crosswalk is completely new, the handicapped ramps, the truncated domes matts, and the stripes on the street. The Hawthorne Bridge with the arrow pointing left takes drivers around the circle and onto the westbound ramp--that's where the white car is headed. The white tractor is headed south on SE MLK. By the time the streetcar is operational next September 21, the traffic signal will be functional so that people who exit the streetcar on the far side of SE MLK will be able to cross safely. The streetcar stop is just out of sight to the right edge of the photo.

Now, the posts about this transformation are finished. Until something else major happens, we'll say good-bye to this subject which totally intrigued me throughout.

#5, Hawthorne Bridge, focus on the circle between the eastbound & the westbound ramps and/or the intersections of the ramps with the surface streets

I took Saturday and Sunday off, chilled and painted with acrylics on canvas board and such. I'm back now.


On November 10, the view from SE MLK, looking east. I was so taken with the BUMP sign that I failed to notice the area to its right, ready to become the rest of a new section of sidewalk. You see, previously along the edge of the circle, no sidewalk existed, just a narrow paved path with a handicapped ramp to street level, but no crosswalk or signal for the handicapped to use in crossing the circle, however. You can see the ramp and the no crosswalk clearly here.

This photo illustrates what I had said here about the circle reminding me of a tilted bowl. See how much higher the circle looks where the pavement disappears into the leaves on the tree? And see the traffic through the guardrail? That traffic is heading north on SE Grand Avenue. The traffic signal with the One Way sign at the right edge of the photo is the second photo in this post.

#4, Hawthorne Bridge, focus on the circle between the eastbound & the westbound ramps and/or the intersections of the ramps with the surface streets

First, I have to share this exciting comment which appeared on Wednesday's post: This is part of the Streetcar Eastside Loop project. The circles (here and at the Morrison Bridge ramps) are being rebuilt to serve as stormwater treatment facilities for street runoff. In addition, at Hawthorne/Madison, and at Belmont/Morrison, there will be a sidewalk added on the west side of Grand Avenue, to make access to and between streetcar stops and bus stops easier. This includes restricting some of the free-flowing on- and off-ramps onto Grand Ave. New signals are also being added so walkers can cross M.L.King Blvd. easier. The one at Morrison is now working. Find out more at an open house Dec. 1 at the Arch. Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand from 5:00 to 7:30.

Now. We're back to the series of photos which I am sharing about the changes in the intersection at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge, either as part of the curve between the eastbound and westbound ramps at SE Grand or as the circle of earth between them, which is also bordered on the west by what is now SE MLK.


There's a whole lot going on in this photo. I love it. So, these two morning commuters on SE Madison are heading west towards the Hawthorne Bridge proper. Once they cross SE Grand Avenue, running left to right on the photo, they will soon go over the Willamette River and be in downtown Portland. Between them you see dug-up pavement, some sort of heavy equipment which surely moves and/or digs, the orange-and-white traffic bollards, and the workers' port-a-potty. Notice the white plastic on the pavement, almost hidden by the bicyclist? It is covering concrete-filled forms which now extend south from this westbound ramp to the eastbound ramp, creating a curb which prevents vehicles from driving hell-bent-for-leather around the curve, coming east and going west in a loop. You can see one of those vehicles, a white SUV, here in Monday’s photo. Now in order to make that loop, drivers will actually make two left turns. The curve has been obliterated, redesigned as part of the Streetcar Eastside Loop project. One more really neat thing. See the bit of turquoise and white, just about in the low center of the photo, in the opening between the trees? That is the roof of a TriMet bus, the #6. It has just come off one-way, southbound SE MLK, and will either stop at the bus stop there beside the Hawthorne Bridge, or it will just continue around the loop and head up onto the westbound ramp and take its passengers over the bridge into downtown. You can see it's route on Monday’s photo, too. It tightly curves closest to the snowy evergreen shrubs. Those shrubs are now removed. Knowing that the roof of the bus is just about even with the roadway gives you an idea of the difference in elevation between the two parallel streets, SE MLK and SE Grand.


Quite a bit going on in this photo, too. The TriMet bus is stopped at the traffic signal, heading east off the bridge ramp onto SE Hawthorne Blvd., after it crosses SE Grand, the street going left to right across the bottom of the photo. The last white car on the right in the stopped traffic is at the spot where vehicles used to be able to curve left to make the loop back west. Now you can see black plastic covering the forms-and-concrete curb that has been installed to prevent traffic from flowing that way. And you can see the rest of the white plastic covering the southmost end of that new curb. I have to tell you, that I couldn't figure out what would come next because there has never been any pedestrian traffic allowed on that west side of SE Grand. Curious over here.

Happy Valentine's Day ... and it's the Daytona 500 in a couple of hours! Whooeee!

The Sign Wizards provided the perfect photo opportunity for my Valentine's Day post.

Can I interest you in a cut or a shave?

Bart's Barbershop, 518 SE Morrison, ground floor of the Weatherly Building.

I boosted the color about 40% at Picnick. Made it all more vibrant.

Surprise Snow, December 29, 2009

The traffic waits at the intersection of SE Grand and SE Morrison. The snow falls as it had been doing since mid-afternoon. Rain had been predicted, but as I understood it from hearing something on the radio, frigid wind blew in from the east, right through the Columbia River Gorge and into Portland and other nearby areas.

Silly me--I had paid attention to the morning weather report. I had my umbrella; I left my YakTrax at home! This time of year I always wear two coats, the outer one a water-repellant coat, the inner one a fleece jacket. Thank goodness it was a wet snow and that few people had walked the sidewalk between my building and this bus stop. I could avoid compacted, slippery looking snow very easily. However, I did not feel safe enough to go to the Hollywood Theater for Charles Phoenix's Retro Holiday Slide Show. I lost the $15 I had paid for the ticket, but I didn't slide down. Ha, ha--that's sort of a pun! A little over two and a half hours after I took this photo, I walked into the apartment thanks to the skillful, determined man driving the #15 bus.

More surprise snow photos tomorrow!