Two photographers at it in The Pearl.

October 22, 2011, I participated in an AIA Photo Walk over in Northwest Portland, in The Pearl. Had a great time, took some photos I really like, some of which I've posted in the past. Since I'm posting ahead so that I don't loose my momentum on the blog while I'm on vacation, I don't have time to check to see if this one is already posted. I don't think anyone will mind, no matter what, since it's been all of those years since I may have posted from this album. I like the look of these two women concentrating on their choices. We'd been told to look up and at the various surfaces and angles available on the edges of this parking lot. We've got good light, great textures, two sorts of cameras and two ages of women, plus those automobiles. I like this photo.

Big landscaping changes at my former apartment building

Sometimes I get homesick for the neighborhood where Mama and I lived before she died in January, 2011. So, I drove by when I had a vacation day and a Zipcar on April 14. Was I ever shocked at the changes to the landscaping at our former home, the Presidential Court Apartments in Northwest Portland's Alphabet District!



I took these two photos from the car after pulling to a stop at the curb, ignoring the no parking sign for a moment or two. Our top floor apartment is visible in this photo--we had the entire sort of pale olive-colored section as well as the brick part with the pointed parapet, the entire front section of that top floor from corner to corner. Our bathroom window is the small one at the corner inside corner. The apartment around from us to the right--that's its bathroom window across from ours. Mama's bedroom has the three windows at the corner of the pale olive section of the wall, next to the bathroom. The living room is behind those windows in the brick section.

Here are four photos that I took in May, 2007, looking down from our bathroom window. We had moved into that apartment, perfect for the two of us and our little dachshund Duncan, in October, 2006.



Here's the look that used to be on the right side of the entrance, as you're looking at it from the curb.



This photo shows the landscaping directly beneath our bathroom window, to the left of the entrance.



A street-level view of the landscaping to the right of the entrance.



To the left of the entrance.

Local Access Only. Daddy, bicycle. Daughters, bucket.

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September 2, 2010, there was some sort of street fair on NW Raleigh Street which had been closed as a thoroughfare--Local Access Only. Daddy's taking his daughters there in a bucket situated on a bicycle, a very smart way to avoid trying to find somewhere to park in that part of town, period, street fair closure or no street fair closure. As near as I can tell, that black cable dragging the ground beneath the bicycle and the bucket goes from the center of the back wheel up to the right side of the handlebars and then the brake lever. I guess that's what you call the part that you squeeze shut when you want to put on the brakes. I noticed these three Portlanders while I waited at the southbound 15 bus stop on NW 23rd Avenue, in my bag a bunch of fresh vegetables from the nearby Thursday evening Northwest Portland satellite of the Portland Farmers Market. I'd let Mama know that I was going to stay on the 15 and go shop there after work. (Please don't be confused, this photo was taken four months before she died. She was tickled about the prospect of fresh, home-cooked veggies.) Interesting that the farmers market in that area has now moved to the very street that Mama and I lived on, four blocks east of our apartment building.

Waiting, with Loyalty, #1

Downtown Portland, September 27, 2009.

Looking through my older photos taken when I worked in Southeast Portland and lived in Northwest Portland which made for a visually interesting commute twice daily has made me realize I need to get out and about on weekends more, on the hunt for photos to shoot. You see, since Mama died in January, 2011, and I moved, I still work in Southeast Portland, but I live in Northeast Portland. My twice daily commute offers somewhat less variety, especially during the winter. It's good for me to have a goal. How to you operate best? Setting goals for yourself?

Northwest Hills, March 6, 2012

Deja vu? Sort of. Here's the same view as yesterday’s post. No snow. The Portland Oregon sign's not lit. Still, that bluish tint near the tops of the hills caught my eye, so I had to get my camera out and take a few shots. I am so blessed to have that camera with me in either my backpack or my purse. Blessed. Taking photos adds a large part to however sane I am at any given time.

Northwest Hills, March 1, 2012

I change from one bus to another at the intersection of SE MLK and SE Couch. I'm standing in Northeast Portland when I wait for that second bus. Often I look west across the Willamette River, towards the Big Pink and the venerable Portland Oregon neon sign. The Big Pink is south of West Burnside, so it is in Southwest Portland. The Portland Oregon sign is north of West Burnside, so it is in Northwest Portland.

This particular morning snow had fallen at the higher elevations. The wintry view enticed me to quickly get my camera out of my backpack and take a few photos. Would that I had had more time. Alas, the bus arrived. My responsibility--to get to work on time.

Abandoned on the street, No. 4

A single shoe hoisted upon the wrought iron fencing which fronts the building where our first rental company has its offices, the corner of NW 21st and NW Everett in Portland's Alphabet District.

I took this photo on July 24, 2010, while I waited for the bus to work.

Now for what I consider a giant kick of irony. That first rental company, Bristol Equities, managed our first apartment which was in Southeast Portland--it's the one Mama took a walk from with Duncan and found the "Free!" items mentioned yesterday. We moved there in June, 2006. Size of apartment, perfect. Location, perfect--four blocks from Lamont and Leland's place and about eight minutes by bus from my work. By September, 2006, notification came that the building had sold through no fault of Bristol Equities, would be turned into condos by the new owner, and we had to move out ASAP even if we wanted to buy a condo because remodeling was the step before ownership. Talk about a couple of unhappy campers! We had absolutely no intention of owning ever again. Ever. We did have an ace up our sleeves, though, a six-month lease, so the new owner offered us a financial incentive to get out ASAP in order to expedite the remodeling. After thoughts of purchasing a generic-building-owner voodoo doll, I finally found us our new apartment in Northwest Portland which ended up being one block west of the offices of our first rental company!

We moved there by the middle of October, 2006. So for a while in the beginning when I waited for the bus to work in front of the wrought iron fence you see in the photo above, my mind clouded with unhappy thoughts about the hassle we went through of packing every single piece of stuff (see yesterday's post for mention of our stuff) AGAIN, moving it all AGAIN, and then unpacking it all AGAIN. What would we have done without my sons? Put our heads down and sobbed, at the very least. Anyway, we loved our new place so much, were very happy there except for the lack of parking, and never once entertained the thought of moving. Until.

When Mama died last January, my sons sweetly asked me to consider moving onto the east side of the river to be nearer them, preferably to an apartment building with available on-street parking. Remembering that our original rental company handled vintage buildings with hardwood floors, I got online and found my new place in no time at all. So, now I don't wait for the bus in front of their offices, but I am once again connected to Bristol Equities in a good way.

Speaking of connections, I wonder why the other shoe wasn't on the fence? Did the two of them ever come together again and regain their connection to their owner?

Autumn Lining the Streets

This is our street in the Alphabet District of Northwest Portland. Our building is on the right on the corner. That wall with the windows that you can see is across the side street. to the east of our building.


This is one street to the north of our street. In both photos I'm looking eastward.


A final photo for today's post, taken from the northern sidewalk on our street, looking through an opening caused by a space between an office building and an older house that now is a law office, and looking to the northern side of the street that is just north of ours. The tree on the right amazes me every time I have looked at the photo since I took it on October 23--the vivid color peeks out from the corner of the house wonderfully.

Looking through ...

... the railing along the Steel Bridge towards the Pearl District in Northwest Portland. We were in a Zipcar, stopped by a bridge lift.

As I pulled to the stop sign, I thought, "Look! A sidewalk statue!"

Then as I grabbed my camera and pointed it, she moved! Startled, I couldn't focus before Leland had to move the car with the traffic, out of range. Still and all, I like the photo of the woman with her messenger bag and bicycle on a corner in the Pearl, Northwest Portland.