A few more neighborhood sights seen on recent walks, more recent ones followed by older ones.

Poppy.



Succulents.



Daisy.



Roses.



Dumpsters.



The Blue Diamond.



Albertina Kerr's front steps.



Motorcyclists.



Bicyclist.



Bicyclist.



Albertina Kerr's front yard.

Bicyclist and pedestrian--interesting head-gear and hair-do choices

Once again at lunch time, someone, no, two someones, passed by and I took a photo that I like. One of the many things that I like about Portland is that you find it easy to be yourself. You can be a man and wear a colorful, striped bicycle helmet. You can be a man and wear your bleached hair, roots visible, in a topknot.

By the way, the last 10 days or so, my allergies have been hammering me, so much so that I've missed some sunny, blustery lunch hours and their attendant photo opportunities. Drat it. These allergies have been worse than any other year that I can remember in Portland, except for when we had just arrived in June, 2006.

Clues that he's in a hurry.

Clue #1--he's jay-walking, on busy downtown SW 6th Avenue, the northbound leg of the Transit Mall. These blocks are only 200 feet long, y'all. I cannot imagine why would he take such a chance. But, there he goes, angling across all designated lanes--those for private-owner vehicles, TriMet MAX Light Rail trains, and buses from TriMet and C-TRAN (the Clark County Washington public transportation agency).



Clue #2--he's barely letting his feet stay on the pavement, striding out with purpose, using his arms efficiently despite the heavy-looking duffle bag in his right hand.



Clue #3--he's changing direction just enough now to make me certain that he's going to go west on SW Taylor. That bus, the #199, 99th St. Express, is a C-TRAN bus.



Clue #4--he's appears to confirm what I had guessed, going west on SW Taylor, towards wherever his bicycle waits patiently. Why do I think he continued left instead of crossing the Taylor and going south? Especially with the crossing signal on red? I don't know. He certainly had not paid any attention to other traffic signals in the time it took for him to jay-walk.

I wonder. Is this is a daily routine for this man, to throw caution to the wind after taking the time to don his bike helmet and shoes, secure his pants legs, throw his backpack onto his back, grab his duffle bag with his right hand, and his bicycle gloves with his left? I'm glad that his yellow sweater grabbed my attention so that I could get these four quick photos after work on April 2, 2014, as I waited for my second of the two buses I take on my homebound commute. The time on each photo is 5:17 p.m. I thoroughly enjoy my Nikon D5100, DSLR. Yes, I do.

Seen on the Hawthorne Bridge - don't blink, or you'll miss him!

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I've seen this man many times in the mornings before 8 a.m. while I wait to cross the intersection when the traffic signal changes. He pedals east on Hawthorne after he's come off the bridge that crosses the Willamette River. His slender legs quickly bend and straighten, and the recumbent bicycle skims the pavement at full speed. A tall flag attached to the back of the bicycle whips side-to-side, in unison with his pumping legs. There's a mouth-locked-open sort of a grimace/smile on his face, along with a look of concentration which reminds me of a man plotting his next move on a chessboard.  To change lanes, he uses side view mirrors with the certainty of a mongoose locked onto the movements of a cobra. Many days after 5 p.m. while I wait for the bus, I've seen him heading west at the intersection of SE Grand Avenue and SE Madison, looking just the same as he does in the morning. His energy level appears undiminished by however he spent the last nine hours.  

All of that is to say that it's fitting that the man on the bicycle is a blur in this photo. On January 8, as I stood enjoying the view at the railing near the bus stop on the bridge, I looked east and noticed him coming toward me. I knew he'd be on me before I could take a photo in that direction, so I put the camera up to my eye as I turned to wait for him and pushed the button as he blew by me. 

Now that I look at the photo on the iMac, I wonder where the bike's flag has gone.

Seen in downtown Portland

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After I had walked over the Hawthorne Bridge on January 8, I continued towards the bus stop at SW 2nd Avenue and SW Main so that I could catch my first bus of the two it takes me to get home. Before I got to that bus stop in the next block, I noticed the lights of a bus which had stopped behind this lady on the bicycle, shining on her. Naturally I had to take a photo, then when the light changed, I hot-footed it for the next corner because the bus behind her was the one I wanted to catch!

You can see how prepared she is for our usual rainy winter weather, with her hooded, bright green rain coat and her tall rubber boots. It alarms me that she doesn't have a helmet--mothers get alarmed by stuff like that. I'm glad to see that she has a light on the back of the bicycle--there near where her raincoat is reflected in the red bike's aluminum (I suppose) fender. What do you think about the angle of the handlebars? Pointed straight up, it seems to me. I hope I come across here again some time so that I can take another photo to compare with this one. 

Once I saw the photo on the iMac, I decided that it had turned out much better than I had expected. Here are the reasons I believe that to be true:

• The headlights shine into the intersection, making a slight shadow of the lady and her bicycle.
• The dashes that outline the bike lane follow the angle of SW Main as it departs the Hawthorne Bridge and continues westward up  the street. I'm usually up in a bus and don't get to see the street like this.
• Also, it's neat that the trees still have lights on them--something left over from the holidays.
• Finally, I like the pedestrians who've crossed at the intersection. I imagine each one feels as good as I remember feeling about no rain on that particular evening. The last woman in the group on the left of the intersection wears stiletto-style black boots. Amazing that anyone willingly puts those on their feet and heads out to work all day in them. Even when I was young and slim, I couldn't bear the thought of doing that to my feet. 

Seen from the Portland Streetcar

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Since the streetcar has a dedicated lane for its tracks right beside the sidewalk, taking photos through its windows can result in some good shots, unless the reflection overpowers what you're trying to photograph. Luck was with me when I took this photo on Saturday, September 29, 2012, while riding east over the Broadway Bridge on the Portland Streetcar's Central Line. 

Notice the bicyclist in the lower left? Many Portlanders commute across Portland's bridges, the ones which have bicycle lanes and/or sidewalks and are open to more than vehicles. Lots of folks ride on the weekends, too. And don't think they only ride in blue sky weather. Nope. I see them riding in the rainy, cold days throughout winter.

For me, a highlight of this photo is the 1896 Union Station and its recently renovated roof--an article in The Oregonian identified the work as an upgrade, pointing out that it was the first one since the 1930s and that it was needed because of the roof's condition which meant that buckets could be found here and there inside the station, filling up with dripping rain. 

The Big Pink, the tall building to the right of center, stands within walking distance of the railroad station--seven blocks--or a short ride on the MAX Yellow Line which is the MAX line that I take from downtown to the Portland Trail Blazer home NBA basketball games at the Rose Garden Arena--the MAX Yellow Line crosses the Willamette River on the Steel Bridge which is south of the Broadway Bridge and just out of sight to the left of this photo.

The curving street is NW Broadway, until it crosses West Burnside at about the vanishing point of the pavement in this photo, then it becomes SW Broadway. Burnside divides Portland into north and south, while the Willamette divides it into east and west. 

On the right edge of the photo, the building you see a portion of is the main US Post Office for Portland. 

The first of a few moments that I witnessed during the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on May 20, 2012, at the intersection of NE Sandy Blvd. and NE 20th Avenue, right in my neighborhood!

A woman on a bicycle cautiously approached NE Sandy, heading north on NE 20th Avenue. Since there's a police officer stopping traffic from the center of the intersection so that runners in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon can continue on their way, she crosses the street. I like how the red hand on the traffic signal looks as if it is attached to her bicycle helmet like the comb on a rooster!
 

Here comes the next bicyclist crossing Sandy behind her. I have to say that I am shocked somewhat to see that the two of them are bicycling the city streets in flip flops. Thank goodness they're wearing helmets. I'll bet they're together--the flip flops give them away.

 

The two of them wait patiently on the corner, searching for a break in the runners. You can tell how much rain the man's been riding in when you take a look at the discolored front of his shorts; her pants are wet, too, but the difference in color is not easy to discern unless you click on the huge original size of the photo which I cannot put here on the blog--sorry. On that original size, it's easy to see drops of rain here and there, too.



Just about made it, threading the needle all the way across NE 20th, heading west.
 

Yep, home free now. What cracks me up is that when I looked at this photo as I cropped it, I wondered what in the world is that woman doing with the toes of her left foot? The dark spot caught my eye, and I had to see for myself, so I clicked on the huge original size of the photo to take a look. She's got those two outer toes crooked upward like she's trying to keep them from hanging off the edge of her flip flop as she trots along beside her bicycle. How many of us do something similar, unconsciously? I used to do that back when I wore flip flops.

Neons are in! Street level matching colors, No. 5

Talk about serendipity! Look at this guy's helmet juxtaposed with the back of that stop sign on the corner of SE Stark and SE 6th Avenue! How cool that I snapped when I did and the camera got that split second in time! Wow! I'm excited about this photo.

Oh, before I get totally distracted by my excitement, look off in the distance, south down SE 6th. See those parked vehicles, many of which are red? They match the man's backpack. There's a north-facing red stop sign, too.

OK. I found something else that matches--there's a teensy bit of bright green there at the corner to the right of the bicycle's front wheel. When I clicked on the original size for an up close look, I saw that it appears to be what's left of a bottle brush, crushed and torn up by traffic, no doubt. And it's the same color as his jacket! Whoopee!

I took this photo on November 9, 2011, on my walk to work.

Neons are in! Street level matching colors--well, not on the street this time, but who cares! No. 4

Turns out that waiting for a bus gives me some of my best chances to get interesting photos. Like this one which I took at the corner of West Burnside and SW 2nd Avenue. Well, I was standing at SW 2nd, he was coming south from NW 2nd.

I took this photo on March 24, before the leaves came out, so there is no green matching item off the bicycle, but the green part of the frame matches the green back wheel. Can you find the other bit of matching green? It's the bicycle seat, peeking out. And the pink part of the frame matches the pink front wheel. Then there's the perfection of the handlebar grips! He knows he's a cool dude on one cool bicycle.

Neons are in! Street level matching colors, No. 3

Last Saturday on the way home from a fine lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center and a rewarding trip to Powell's Books, I got off the bus for the block and a half walk to my apartment building.

On the corner, I noticed these two stacks of orange traffic cones as I crossed to wait for the traffic signal to change at the corner of NE Sandy Blvd. and NE 20th Avenue. "Hmmm," I wondered. "Is tomorrow's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon coming by here?"

Then I saw the man approaching on the bicycle, wearing, of all things, an orange knit hat covering,  I imagine, a head full of dread locks. I couldn't believe it--orange and orange, right at the same instant that I stood on the corner, camera on its strap hanging around my neck.

Yea for serendipity!

(And more about the cones later on in this series.)

Neons are in! Street level matching colors, No. 2

Another bicyclist, seen downtown on May 5, pedaling north on SW 6th Avenue at SW Salmon. I'd call his bicycle is a muted chartreuse green which nicely complements the big leaves on all of those trees. I also like the orange traffic cone, the orange "Don't Walk" hand on the traffic signal, and in the distance west up the sidewalk, there's another traffic signal with the orange hand and that pedestrian wearing a muted orange, long-sleeved shirt. I like the silver horizontal stripe on the orange traffic cone which is reflected in the stripes on the stone facade of the building on the corner. Plus, there's the yellow Broadway Cab waiting there at the curb, and up the street a block is another yellow Broadway Cab waiting at the opposite curb--several hotels nearby mean cabs nearby.

Are you as curious as I am about what he's got in that wooden basket on front of the bicycle? It looks like a vehicle battery when I open the original size of the image and can get an up-close look. Bicyling the battery to the vehicle--ah, Portland.

Neons are in! Street level matching colors, No. 1

April 20, 2012, outside the Rose Garden Arena, I noticed a colorful sight, this young woman on her Day-Glo orange bicycle which has buttery yellow sidewall tires and even brighter orange wheels. There's even a narrow, swooping orange stripe on her creamy white-colored bicycle seat. She's wearing a bright chartreuse green safety vest. Her bicycle helmet has a matching orange stripe, a matching green stripe, and a soft blue stripe on its creamy white surface.

I saw her outside the Rose Garden Arena, pedaling north at through the intersection of NE Wheeler and NE Multnomah. Just to the right of the street lamp, up that slope, lies I-5, the southbound side of it. NE Multnomah crosses beneath the interstate.

I had a good time looking photo, noticing street level matching colors. Shades of orange--a streak at the base of the street lamp, rust on the fence poles, some sort of flaking sherbet-colored paint on the concrete wall. Shades of green--the new grass, the trees and shrubs, the flaking mint-colored paint on the concrete wall. I can't get myself to count the green on the street signs, though--it's just too different to count.

Serendipity #3: A guy on a bike, two times.

Monday as I rode the 10 bus back from eating lunch downtown, I took this photo from the window. I thought the serendipity was the way the wheels touch the markings on the pavement.


Here's the real serendipity. After I got off the bus across the street from my building I walked toward the corner to wait to cross with the traffic signal. I saw a bicyclist coming and thought, "It's the same guy!" I turned to follow his as he swept past. Click. There he goes.

Now that's real serendipity!

The week before the end of Daylight Saving Time, when I could see

Wednesday, November 3, once again I'm at the corner of SW Washington and SW Broadway, waiting for the 15. Ah, the joys of being in the right spot at the right time. It certainly didn't hurt that this Dodge Daytona was thumping, so much so that I had time to look, get the camera out of my bag and turn it on, then point it for several quick shots. When the light changed to green, the driver slowly advanced for the left turn. I'm loving this blurred bicycle and rider. Those reddish smudges on the pavement are actually the blurred rims of the bicycle's wheels! What I want to know is where is the bicyclist's head? Even at the largest image, I can't say for sure, but I think he's lowered it between his shoulders. At least I think it's a he. And I can see that the driver of the Dodge Daytona is a man. Fun, I'm having fun with this photo!

Seen on the streets of Portland, No. 5

A bicyclist rides north on SW 10th Avenue at its intersection with SW Morrison Street. I like her color choices and their coordination--even her bicycle is pink. As a mother, though, I wish she wore a helmet.

I took this photo on October 25, 2008. I found the neatest pair of sunglasses in Ray’s Ragtime on my one and only visit. Their Web site is not worth looking at, so I didn't include a link. However, the store itself is stuffed with all sorts of interesting stuff. The windows are a treat, too. I need to get some photos of them.