New Year's Eve 2011 ~ Seattle

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year from Seattle, Washington. May you all be as happy as these two seemed this afternoon as they paused along the waterfront.


And a bird's eye view of the Seattle skyline...

A Clean Well Lighted Place

That would be any library and in this case the clean well light place is the Capitol Hill Public Library in Seattle...

View from the Inside

Looking out from the inside of the car, many times you can lose focus and only see the drops. Here's a view from the inside of the Mini-Cooper. It seemed quite magical considering the overall grayness of the day here in Portland.

View of the Mundane

This post could be entitled Fridge on the Fritz. Today wasn't the first day of dealing with the refrigerator. December 21 was the first and was also the day before we left for Austin. The compressor had stopped working long enough before discovery that 95% of its contents are history. Almost $200 later, we're watching the refrigerator's performance before we commit to putting opened jars inside it. These are unopened goodies from the pantry. We'll see. We can always use our neighbor's refrigerator until 24 January. Not a terribly convenient solution, however it definitely saves money.

On My Run ~ Austin

Today's run took me into a neighborhood near Govalle in Austin, Texas. Much to see in yards and along the streets. This garage door caught my eye. There's nothing like the Virgin Mary to stop you in your tracks.

Austin Streets

The day after Christmas the sun was shining for the celebration of Boxing Day! This fellow seemed nonplussed by both the sun and the opportunity to shop.

Lady Byrd Lake

Bridge over Lady Byrd Lake in Austin, Texas!

Christmas Eve Riverwalk in San Antonio

A peaceful Christmas wish to all and to all a good night...

Happy Festivus

Deep in the heart of Texas, this squirrel wishes everyone a Happy Festivus. He is definitely enjoying the empty campus at the University of Texas, Austin.

Tomtar in Flight

These Finnish elves are flying from Portland to Austin for Festivus. They spent the previous week in transit from Finland and so are experienced travelers.

Hanukkah, Festivus, Christmas, Kwanzaa ....

Happy all of those guys. My mama is dealing with house maintenance activities before leaving town. She promises to be back to pick me up ... I'm hanging out in Almost Beaverton while the Orange Boys have a live-in sitter. Hmmmpf.

Venus at the Portland Art Museum

Generally people are more interested in getting up or down the stairs in the CMCA at the Portland Art Museum than they are in looking at the backside of the sculpture, Venus by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. She is a beauty though from either view.



It's interesting to note that because of the effects of a paralytic stroke, Renoir was assisted in sculpting Venus by the sculptor Richard Guino who has a posthumously created Facebook page

La Befana Here in Portland

The holiday tradition lingers on into January with Little Christmas, the celebration of the Epiphany. Italian lore has it that La Befana arrives the night before on her broomstick, goes down the chimney and leaves presents for good children. Any child caught up and about on 5 January is said to get a swift sweeping with said broom.

Here's La Befana at Piazza Italia in Portland's Pearl District...

Through the Looking Glass

Today the camera went out but it was most pleased with this image in the window of the second floor of its home. The oil painting's reflection nearly obliterates the view of the bamboo and windows next door.



(Painting is by Mel Townsend, local artist and proprietor of Mel's Frame Shop.)

Santas at Pioneer Square

The admonishment at Pioneer Square is to be merry. It's hard not to be merry when a contingent of Santas arrives to join the Gay Men's Chorus and the lineup of people waiting to see Santa or buy roasted chestnuts. Even though it was cold, everyone had smiles on their faces.

Pearl Bakery

Portland is well known for its microbrewing subculture. In addition to that and the coffee roasters, there are also the flourishing bakeries. Pearl Bakery has been around awhile but attracts a fair number of patrons. The bread is great, the coffee is decent. The space is open.

Gift Shop at the Portland Art Museum

The gift shop at the Portland Art Museum is filled to the brim with items ranging from jewelry to books, incense to trinkets, music and cards. These owls are currently hovering on the shelves near the coffee and tea shop. Members receive ten percent off their purchases.

Sigmar Polke ~ Part 2

Yesterday the Sammons Gallery at the Portland Art Museum was filled with workers stretching the Sigmar Polke that is now hanging on the wall outside of the Whitsell Auditorium. There will likely be another update to this series when the placard identify the piece shows up.

Sigmar Polke Being Stretched at the Portland Art Museum

A Sigmar Polke canvas was stretched today at the Portland Art Museum. It was a long process and I had errands to run and people to meet. So all of us will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the finished project looks like.

A Crow and a Flamingo

This flamingo is part of a display at Laughing Planet, a restaurant in the Ecotrust Building here in Portland. It was bright and cheery and quite festive ~ a wonderful counterpoint to the injured crow who died while I was transporting it to the Audubon Society. So it's been a bittersweet day.

Chopsticks and Forks

Dinner out tonight at Seres on NW Lovejoy and 11th. Sometimes you have a choice between chopsticks and forks...

Store Windows

Window shopping can be quite interesting, especially on NW 23rd. The 3 Monkeys has a plethora of ornaments right now. Here are two floating in front of what appears to be a Vargas Girl. The other window of interest today had two images of Freda Kahlo...

Mushrooms and Fences on Wildwood Trail

Today was the day the little black dog and I returned to Forest Park for one of our outings. Running along Wildwood Trail, we must have gotten too close to this mushroom. Undoubtedly the fairies had left some of their dust near it ... shortly after we stopped to examine it the nearby fence took on a different appearance.

Crossing Campus

Portland State's campus is located in downtown Portland at the southern end of the South Park Blocks. The sun made for a bright crisp day, great for walking ...

Happy Hachiya

Persimmons are ripening here in Portland. One fine specimen of the Hachiya variety grows in the Lan Su Chinese Garden...

Christmas or Festivus

Now that we celebrate Festivus in December, I only see decorated trees when I'm out and about. There are definitely plenty of them so they're easily found in the lobbies of most professional offices.

Lille Boutique

The Lille Boutique filled with intimate lingerie is on SW Alder next to the English Department. By itself it has some interesting window displays from time-to-time. Here are the classic three with their pearls...

The Camera on Sauvie Island

Today started out overcast and gray. We ventured out to Sauvie Island for a walk around Virginia Lake. Halfway around, the sun broke through and the day warmed as the skies turned blue. We were all happy including the little black dog.

Macro Meditations

Two macros inspired by yesterday's Buddha...

Buddha and the Snowflake

Shogun on NW 23rd here in Portland showcases a Buddha in its center front window. At Halloween, it held a skull. Right now its meditating on a snowflake...



And here's the Halloween version...

Dog Portraits

Two dog views today ... one sits outside Kenny and Zuke's on NW Thurman. This one is probably dreaming of the roast beef. Hopefully he'll get it when the ones at the other end of the leash all come back out to eat at that sidewalk table.



This dog sits in the front window with its young owner. They're both toasty warm. Likely the golden retriever on the sidewalk would trade the sandwich in the shop for a seat on that couch in the window.

At Abraham Lincoln's Feet

Abraham Lincoln is one of the sculptures in the South Park Blocks here in Portland. Lots of people walk by, some stay longer than others. Mr. Lincoln is definitely an inspiration for us all.

Two Dogs ~ One Inside and One Outside

Today wassn't the coldest day of the year here in Portland. However, the temperature did hover around 43 degrees, not exactly warm. I had an appointment near Urban Grind this afternoon. That's a coffeeshop on NW 14th. There is an overhang that would have protected this yellow Lab from rain if it had actually been doing that. However, the overhang didn't do much for keeping the dog warm for at least the hour and a half that I know that it sat out there.



Django, on the other hand, was quite warm on the couch. His only complaint was that one of his orange brothers had stolen his buttercup when he went outside for his last walk around the block.

Bluebirds and a Reindeer

The streets are full of all sorts of sights including these bluebirds to brighten your day. And if they're not enough, there's an image of Rudolph racing a streetcar along the Portland Streetcar line on SW 10th in downtown Portland.

Heading Home in the Rain

After an afternoon at the Portland Art Museum, I headed home along the Portland Streetcar line. As I approached SW Morrison, I noticed how the Galleria was looking quite stately on the North East corner. The retailer Target will occupy the building at some point in the future.

Powell's Technical Books

At least that's what most of us remember the science/math/computing/engineering bookstore being called. Now it's official name is Powell's Books Bldg. 2 and is located directly behind the Portland Streetcar stop at NW 10th and Couch. Here's the current window ~ taken while waiting for the streetcar to appear. Right now I'm reading two biographies, the Steve Jobs in the window and Mark Rothko by Lee Seldes.

Portland ~ Looking across the Willamette River

The Willamette River runs through Portland and is the "dividing line" between east and west. This is the view of the west side mid-morning today. There could be some rain on Sunday but so far the weather reports indicate sunny and chilly for the next week. "Oh the Joy" to quote William Clark when the Lewis and Clark Expedition came near to the Pacific.



And here's a view a bit more south of the one above...