Handrail shadows on the ramp.

The other day when I went to the Moda Center before work, I enjoyed the shadows cast by the handrail at the ramp from the Commons down to the street.



And from the street back up to the Commons. It's interesting to see a place you're very familiar with in a new light, at a new time of day, from a different perspective.

Taking steps, out and about inside my building - I live in a studio which is absolutely perfect for me, space-wise and location-wise.

I'm standing on the level of my front door, around the corner from it--this loop in the hallway is 67 of my steps around. I could take the steps down to the vestibule seen through that closed door or up to the second floor landing. I knew yesterday that it's time to take a walk up those stairs. Right at my fingertips, well, at my feet, the perfect way to get moving more and more on this road to recovery from surgery a week ago yesterday! To put some variety in my work out, complete with the safety of a handrail.



Ever curious, I decided to find online a diagram of wooden staircase parts so that I would know the exact name of what my hand grasped, of where my feet landed. I like a sturdy handrail connected to well-installed balusters. To tell you the truth, my all-time-fantasy hiking trail in the outdoors would come with just such a set up. I believe that my fear of heights would be negated as I held onto such a handrail.



Here's a direct look up the eleven treads in this riser, counting the landing at the top as eleven. Is that the way you count, officially as a carpenter? It's how I count as a walker.



At the top I turned left, looked out through the screen and took this photo. You can see the tile roof on the building's entrance, there to the right. The windows on the lower level on the left are mine! I have a total of eight, four in each room.



The first three you see are part of the four that make up the bonus room's outer wall--my twin bed, a narrow storage unit; a waist-high,long, narrow bookcase; and a chest of drawers are in there, too. This is a photo I took of the bonus room that first day, checking out the apartment. FYI, that silver vehicle across the street is the one whose alarm went off yesterday from approximately 3:30 p.m. until 5:09 p.m. when it ceased. Hallelujah!



There is an extra-wide opening with no door straight across from my bed which opens into my kitchen. I've gotten used to sleeping through the occasional refrigerator gurgle and/or electronic whir. Here you are looking through that opening and out the windows. You can see the building's entrance and the gutter. When we get a lot of rain, it sounds like I'm sleeping behind a waterfall. I love it!



In that photo taken from the upstairs landing, the one window you see at the start of the bow-window area is the first of the four in the living room. There is a bit of wall in between first one and the center two. That bit of wall is repeated between those center two and the fourth one at the opposite end of the bow. These windows grabbed hold of me when I first walked through the apartment's front door, sunshine streaming onto the hardwood floors. This is a photo of the center two windows and the fourth one--I took it on that same day when I first saw what turned out to be my new home.

What steps will I take in 2014?

The sign says: Caution. Uneven steps. Slippery when wet. Sounds like life, sometimes.

One key for me is to know when to take hold of the handrail so that I can accomplish my goal, as well as how to gain strength and confidence and skill so that when the opportunity presents itself to take those steps without the handrail, I shall be ready.

Happy New Year, y'all! I took this photo at the Portland Japanese Garden on Sunday, December 15, 2013. See you next year!

Mother's Day Mini-Vacation, No.14 - Every foot we traveled to the top was worth it.

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NF-100 is the red cinder road to the parking lot at the top of Lava Butte Cinder Cone.
 

Here I am, at the 5020 ft. top of Lava Butte Cinder Cone. Whoopee! How did I get here, you're wondering, right?
 

Leland drove us right up that red cinder road to the parking lot. See Engine there, our Zipcar, the red Ford Escape? Now look past the parked cars to where it looks as if the level surface ends abruptly. Actually, it steeply slants downward. Notice the teensy person in the red shirt to the left of the restroom? That person's head, in relation to the roof of the restroom and the end of the level surface gives you an idea of the steepness of the slant. I managed, with the help of a sturdy handrail that you cannot see very well in this photo--it's lost in the foliage on the trees--to walk down the first part of that slant, let go of the handrail and walk the four feet to the door. I didn't notice the steps leading down to it from the other corner, steps with a handrail, until after I had let go and turned left to make my way to the door. Actually, I felt very proud of myself for not texting one or both sons to come walk on either side of me down that slant in the first place. Anyway, I got back up onto the level surface by myself, too, but I cannot remember for sure which method I used, steps or slant. Seems like it was the steps, now that I think about it.
 

I stopped after I got back on the level surface and took this photo, wondering if my fear of heights would compel me to remain there and miss out on what must be a monumental view. I took off walking, determined to make it. I realized that I could hold on for every step once I started up the incline.
 

The view from the first turn in the walkway, to my right.
 

The view to my left from the first turn in the walkway.
 

I made the second turn and stopped to take this photo. This gorgeous handrail, surely made of steel, and its rock walls convinced me that I could make it right on up to the top.
 

Before I started walking again, I turned to look up higher, leaned into the handrail, and took this photo of Leland and Lamont, already at the top.
 

I also took this photo of the entire crater, well all of it that I could see from that spot. At this point, I didn't realize that there was a quarter-mile loop trail around its edge.
 

I made it to the top! I took this panoramic photo from where I'm standing in the photo above, the one that Leland took of me with my iPhone. Yea!
 

I also took this photo from the same spot. The lava field blew my mind! Talk about learning something new each day. This particular Saturday was one learning experience after another. I loved it!
 

I noticed these bags of All Purpose Rose Sand beneath the stairs. Curious. I walked to the end of the stairs, feeling pretty good about how flat the surface was there around the Fire Lookout. Then I noticed there was no railing along the back side of the surface. So I walked carefully to that railing you can see on the right of the photo and turned back to look at the building.

 

Ah, the sandbags kept the solar panels in place. From this vantage point I looked around for a while, saw what looked like a path with no handrails slanting away from where I stood, and watched as a family of four--the children were probably seven and nine--walked right by me and on down the trail. Whoa! I looked some more and then noticed people walking ahead of them on the edge of the crater. I also realized I had not seen Lamont or Leland for a few minutes. I figured they were walking around the edge, too. So I walked back to the other side of the building where I could stand and see the entire loop.
 

I found Lamont first.
 

Then I found Leland.

Come back tomorrow for monumental views and teensy birds, plus that twisted tree to the right side of the crater.