A helpful man whom I should've helped by saying, "Sir? Sir? You're sweatshirt's rode up your back!" Plus another tidbit. And a bonus, even.

Just before I stopped, turned and took this photo, I had sat down to rest for a minute or so on a park bench more to the left than any of these you see. It was dry; it faced the sprinklers which were behind the benches across from it; I felt safe. I had noticed the man in the sweatshirt, down at the intersection of the sidewalks--more to the right of this photo--working on some sprinkler-related equipment in a hole in the ground, down on his knees. He stood, turned to walk towards me, saw me sitting there and said as he approached, "You're not gonna want to sit there. Trust me."

I figured a sprinkler man knew what he was talking about, so I stood up, thanked him and made my way on down the sidewalk so that I could finish my nine blocks between buses which I'm now doing every weekday morning. I couldn't resist taking a photo. And, despite the title that I've given today's post, I only noticed that his sweatshirt had rode up when I took a look at the photo to see if it would work for the blog. I think it works fine and is more interesting that the other two that I took.

About the park, it's in downtown Portland, a complete city block across the street from another complete city block that is also a park. It's known as Lownsdale Square and across the street is Chapman Square. I well remember the first time I rode the 14 bus headed east on the street at the south side of Chapman Square, mesmerized by the great big trees and all of the green, green grass in the midst of city buildings; there's even another complete city block park across that street to the south--Terry D. Schrunk Plaza. It's federal property, not city, and is on top of a parking garage for a federal building across the street to the east of the park. All three blocks are gorgeous in all seasons, in all weather.

Found on the Internet: Chapman and Lownsdale Squares occupy two city blocks just east of the Multnomah County Courthouse and the Portland Building. Historically, Chapman Square, with its all-female grove of gingko trees, was designated for women and children, while Lownsdale Square was for the men. The squares were originally mirror images of each other, with restrooms on either side. Over time, a seemingly-random collection of monuments has been added to the parks, but for the most part the parks remain identical.



Here's the other tidbit. I took this photo a few weeks before. I couldn't resist the cell phone photographer along with the park--this is Chapman Square.



And a bonus. Here's a photo I took a day later, looking from Chapman Square south across the street to Terry D. Schrunk Plaza. Of the three, it's the only one with flowering plants, azaleas and rhododendrons.

UPDATE - Woke up way too early. I'm about to take my first nap of the day, y'all.

--> UPDATE:

Made it through all that went on yesterday without any problems. Got my ride to the hospital for the chemo port placement--thanks to a sweet friend. The doctor who placed it was the same guy who did my needle biopsy on June 17. I really like that guy! And his crew was top-knotch!

I will be able to take off the bandages over the two incisions tomorrow. So far, I have had no pain associated with either incision, although I have no desire to lie on my right side in bed, nor do I want to do jumping jacks or reach too high, period.

Still no nausea, taste alterations, and thankfully less peripheral neuropathy. Thank you for your continued prayers, love and concern.



I fell asleep between 10-10:30 p.m. Woke up at 2:45 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. So, by 4:52 a.m. I had eaten some oatmeal and prunes and finished off several ounces of water. I decided to go outside since the sun had not yet come up. I checked the temperature on my phone--59 degrees. Wow. I put on my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt jacket, zipped it up, pulled up the hood and walked out the building's front door. At the end of our sidewalk, I could hear the sprinklers to the south doing their thing. They cut off within a minute or two, and then the ones to the north cut on. So, I walked down the still dry front steps and across the street to the front yard at Albertina Kerr's. I sat on the bench for a few minutes because I heard the sprays of water begin to hit the banana tree leaves which are right up against our sidewalk and its steps. I knew I needed to wait for silence before walking back inside my building. When I got across the street once all was quiet, I saw this image and knew that I had to photograph it and share it with y'all. Who in the world wouldn't want to call this building home?

Summer Rain

Sprinklers on automatic soak Tom McCall Waterfront Park. I happened upon them by accident, one day after work when I got off the bus to look at something else. The water in waterfront refers to the Willamette River, which is to the east in these southward-facing photos.

Y'all who don't live in Portland must be wondering why anyone waters anything in Portland, right? It’s just not true that it rains all of the time here. It rains just enough to make things splendid.