All, I mean ALL, about my going to the Portland Farmers Market at PSU yesterday and what I bought!

I don't know exactly how this will work for y'all. I may end up driving you completely crazy, but I feel compelled to try it. Five short videos here for y'all. I had to figure out how to edit the longer one into short enough segments that I could e-mail them to myself from my iPhone, then download them to the iMac, then upload them to Flickr, then post them into the blog at Blogger. Where in the world would I be without all of these nouns after AT? Sad, I'd simply be sad.

Following the videos, still shots of the items that I bought and videoed after I got home--I couldn't get those videos to go where I wanted them to go using my make-shift-process that I outlined above, so I took a screen shot of each item as it appeared in a video, then cropped until I liked how it turned out. I uploaded them to Flicker.

Lo and behold, the entire screen shot uploaded, so I had to crop them in Aviary, a Flickr edit thing-ey. I'm all into make-shift-processes on today's post. Enjoy!











Now for what I bought at the market. Thank goodness for my backpack! I stuffed it with the items in jars, the cherries inside a plastic container that I took with me, and the loaf of bread. I ended up having to buy two $1 reusable shopping bags from Unger Farms where I bought the Hood strawberries--they traveled as well as could be expected in another plastic container, most of them still inside the paper pint carton they came in. I used the two bags for the candy, the pate, and all of the veggies.



Carrots and zucchini. I plan to bake the carrots and put the zucchini in a pot along with lots of the other veggies.



Spinach, one bunch for the pot.



Cabbage, about the size of an orange, some for the pot, some to cook some other way.



Walla Walla Sweet Onion, some for the pot, some to eat raw on the occasional half sandwich.



Green onions, same as the Walla Walla.



Turnips, for the pot.



Broccoli, to be steamed and enjoyed immensely.



Hood strawberries, already eaten sliced in Cheerios and by hand, along with the occasional half sandwich.



Cherries, waiting to be counted out, measured into the proper serving and taken to work as part of lunch.



Scrumptious pate that I eat in small cubes as part of lunch. I've got to figure out how to count the carbs and calories.



Cherry Country delights, to be eaten now and then when I have space in my carb count. Rose City Pepperheads Mango Madness Pepper Jelly, to be enjoyed as measured in all sorts of ways. The stuff is pure gold. Unbound Pickling Bread and Butter Pickles, to be consumed by the slice on the occasional half sandwich.



The bread to use for the occasional half-sandwich and/or the occasional whole piece of toast. It's divine!

Man at work: a sight I long to see again. Alas, I must wait until the 2016-2017 NBA season begins.

As I came down the escalator right at the end of the April 9 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves who managed to win by one dadgum point, my heart hurt. However, when I saw Adam sitting calmly at his broadcast desk, getting ready for his post-game duties beside the empty chair that belongs to Michael Holton who no doubt would be on his way in seconds, I felt a calmness that comes from witnessing a professional at work.

I've been blessed to get to know Adam over the years since the 2011-2012 season when I first became a Portland Trail Blazers' season ticket holder. He's not only professional, he's honorable, personable, and possesses an inner strength that allows him to take what life deals and handle it day by day with care and grace. And I know for certain that he's a great guy to come upon when you need a hug!

Adam, I hope that you enjoy seeing this photo and that you and Lindsay don't mind that I've altered your NBA.com Trail Blazers broadcasting bio to reflect what's happened with your dear Murphy. Plus, I added Carly's sweet name, too. Cade would be all over me if I forgot to do that!

Found on the Web: Adam Bjaranson begins his fifth season as the Trail Blazers Television Studio Host in 2014-15, teaming up with Michael Holton for the Toyota Pregame Show and the McDonald’s Halftime Show, shot live from the 100-level concourse of the Moda Center. Prior to joining the Trail Blazers, he spent nine years anchoring sports in the Portland market with both KPTV (FOX) and KGW (NBC). Bjaranson has won numerous awards for broadcasting excellence, including the Oregon Association of Broadcasters “Television Sports Announcer of the Year” in 2008, as well as the Associated Press Award for “Best Sportscast.” The Warrenton, Ore., native’s first taste of work in the NBA came as an intern for the Golden State Warriors radio network in 1995-96. Following that, he landed his first television job in Coos Bay, Ore., in 1997, before spending the next four years at KVEW-TV (ABC) in Kennewick, Wash. Bjaranson graduated from Portland State University in 1995, before heading down to San Francisco State University to hone his broadcast skills. He is involved in numerous charities, including Caddies 4 Cure and the NW Autism Foundation. During his free time, Bjaranson can be found on many of Oregon’s incredible golf courses or collecting sports memorabilia. Bjaranson resides in Beaverton with his wife Lindsay, son Cade, their daughter Carly, and their two beagles — Murphy and Oden.

Sadly, I have to report that Murphy recently went to doggie heaven, as Adam put it. Here's what his wife Lindsay wrote on Facebook, in honor of their sweetheart: I've been struggling to find words that adequately express our deep love for Murphy and the unbearable sadness we're feeling with his passing. They say dogs are like family. Well, first of all we never use the word "dog" to describe Murphy or his brother Oden. And I would take it even further. Murphy is the reason this family even exists. First he brought Adam and I together to love and care for him. Then along came Odie to be a companion to Murphy. He taught us how to be parents and put someone else's needs first. He taught us how to worry, make tough decisions, laugh and get over the small stuff, and that no matter how bad a day you're having, there's someone at home who loves you and can't wait to see you come through that door.

Murphy, buddy, coming home will never be the same. We are the parents we are today because of you. You were so patient and ever loyal, even when you had to share our attention with Cade and Carly. Seeing Cade look to the sky and pick out the cloud he thinks you're laying on both warms and breaks my heart at the same time. You are forever in our hearts and we will see each other again. Until we join you, enjoy Dog Heaven buddy.

Forever our "firstborn."

Seen on TriMet, MAX Yellow Line this time for people watching.

I'm making up a story here. When she boarded the MAX Yellow Line train, the lady sat in the only empty seat and turned tightly to her right, holding herself so that she didn't accidentally look at the boys beside her or what leaned between the legs of the one with the black hair. That lady had a brother who loved his skateboard back in the 1960s when they were new to the world and much shorter, narrower, rolled on a different sort of wheels. It's been over fifty years, and she still can't look at a skateboard, it matters not that these days skateboards look nothing like they did back then. If she glimpses a skateboard, hears one clackety-clacking on the sidewalk, and the break in her heart freshens with her awareness. Yet her reaction has nothing to do with those changes and all to do with the fact that her beloved brother, drafted into the US Army, came home from Vietnam in a body bag.

I really miss seeing these transit shelters downtown on SW 5th and SW 6th. All but this one, gone but not forgotten.

There's a stalled bus alongside the curb, apropos of the fact that this shelter, back before Portland's Transit Mall was revamped in 2007, would have served many buses throughout the day and the night, for untold numbers of commuters. I used this particular a lot myself when I first started commuting from Northwest Portland to Southeast Portland in October, 2006. Since November, 2006, set records for rainfall totals, it came in very handy.



While I'm glad that at least one of these iconic shelters was saved and turned into a coffee stand, it makes me sad as all get out to think about the many that disappeared, their unique shapes gone forever, replaced by generic glass and tube shelters which do little to protect us from blowing rain. I heard that TriMet did away with these--which always remind me of hats that might have been worn by China-men of yore--because their closed-in design led miscreants to use them for nefarious reasons, as well as others who took advantage of not being able to be easily seen to relieve themselves, hopefully during the night when few commuters were on the streets. I myself never witnessed either activity.

Seen before and after work Monday. Oh, the joy of a DSLR and figuring out how to work it!

A curious body at the bus shelter with no intention of boarding the bus when it arrives.



As I witnessed each step, I expected the crow to fly away. Instead, it kept walking along the brick wall that encloses the flower bed.



How about that left leg caught mid air? Cool!



You have to realize that I'm sitting a sidewalk's width away from this bird. Thank goodness I learned how to turn off the camera's focus beep on Saturday because I doubt that I'd have gotten more than one photo. What a neat event to share with one of nature's smarter creatures, the crow.



Walking. We're walking. Said like those White House tour guides you see in movies, the ones who walk backwards at the head of a group of wide-eyed tourists. Of course, this crow is walking forward, like a good crow would.



Just before take off! Is this wide-legged stance the usual pre-take-off stance? I'll have to pay better attention the next time the opportunity arises.



Walking again, along the edge of the roof on the credit union building. I really like the way this one turned out!



And this one, too. Look at those feathers!



And these feathers!



Those teensy little legs and those feathers! Aren't we glad that we don't have to swing our hips this much side-to-side to go forward? The bus drove up and I had to walk onto it and go to work.



After work, I rode the bus two blocks past my street, four blocks past my usual stop, so that I could get in some more steps. Lucky for me, I got to see these fallen rhododendron blossoms through the wrought iron gate. This is at the building where I photographed those peachy colored roses in a shrub/tree on Saturday. See an earlier post to see them.



Naturally, I felt a deep desire to zoom in on the blossoms. First try.



Second try. I'm very happy with both of them. Yea for learning how to use my Olympus. Thanks to my son Leland for his patience as I give it my all, such as it is now and then.

Seen on TriMet, a great place for people watching

This elderly gentleman is the most interesting person I've seen in almost ten years of riding TriMet. Would that we could have spoken with each other. I'd love to know his story.



Another photo of him.



And a final photo.

I turn down the sound on my iPhone and act as if I'm looking at something on my phone, hoping not to embarrass the subject or the photographer. So far, so goo.