Sailboat on the North Sea

No trip to Den Haag would be complete without a visit to the North Sea. It was a calming moment after the adventure of inadvertently walking down Deoublestraat, The Hagues's smaller Red Light District.

Shopping in The Hague

The big adventure today was to find the local organic store to buy some supplies. This vegetable section is part of a market about a 10 minute walk from where we are staying. Although we had been warned that sometimes the selections were not the freshest in any store when it comes to vegetables, these were quite nice.

Plus, I was able to learn a new skill set. Weigh, use coding machine to print out scan ticket for later checkout.

Off to The Netherlands

We fly across th Pond today leaving for The Netherlands.

See you in a bit. This is the last thing we will see as we board our KLM flight.

San Francisco Streetcar

Today is our second day in San Francisco and the second exhibition featuring Gertrude Stein. The transportation option for us has been the F Streetcar taking us back towards Castro Street where we're staying.

Resting Hearts

Camera found its way to San Francisco...

Location: Yerba Buena Center
Time: Mid Afternoon
Event: Concert

Pet Peeves

We find when we vacation, the Orange Boys have issues with our packing ...

The Camera will be in places other than Portland ... San Francisco and The Netherlands.

Water Reservoir ~ Washington Park

For many years the water reservoirs in Portland have been uncovered. That may soon come to an end.
They do add to the landscape with their reflections. This image is from one of the ones in Washington Park.

Timbers Cut Down Goats ~ Portland Timbers v. ChivasUSA

A late August soccer match was on our schedule tonight. Here's a view of the east stands about an hour prior to the start of the game. Portland scored the sole goal of the evening on a corner kick that was headed in by Eric Brunner, a defender. Go Timbers...
RCTID

Sleeping Under the 405

While walking this afternoon, I came across this sign and the sleeping people directly underneath it ~ quite a juxtaposition...



Only a block away this very elegant Bambi Airstream sits waiting for its next adventure. The people under the sign would quite likely be thankful for it as a place to rest.

Portland Farmers Market ~ Monday

Most days there's an active Farmers Market here in Portland. On Mondays during the summer months, the venue is Pioneer Square in the downtown area. For me the most brilliant item for sale was this kale.

Dahlia and Bee

A perfect time in Portland to watch bees on flowers such as this dahlia.

Lotus at the Lan Su Chinese Garden

Where to go on a Saturday morning here in Portland? Start early and you'll have a few quiet moments before the crowds arrive and the weekend program with music starts at the Lan Su Chinese Garden. Enjoy the fish and lotus just about anywhere in the garden.

Sunny Day in Portland

Out and about in Portland today, I decided to take the Streetcar. The stop at SW 10th and Stark has a covered area for inclement weather but not much shade. I stood back a ways to be out of the sun and saw this reflection.



Earlier I had noticed these eyes on the street. They're on a Food Cart near SW 9th and Washington.

Mannequin Head

Three Monkeys on NW 23rd here in Portland is a store filled with interesting objects ~ some useful, some not. This mannequin head may or may not be useful but it's definitely an intriguing take on a stylized head.

Mona Lisa Here in Portland

Walking down NE Alberta today, I noticed this striking Mona Lisa. She looked as if she was waiting for a letter for Leonardo. Hopefully it will arrive soon and she can go upstairs and have a glass of wine while she's reading it...



Update on 18 August...
Voice from the Couch and I sat around talking about color and black/white. Here's the color view of the Mona Lisa:

BeerLao in Portland

Out for dinner at Tara Thai, a NW 23rd Avenue Thai/Lao restaurant here in Portland. The other two had a Chardonnay, not Champagne while I opted for a BeerLao reminiscing over the two weeks we spent in Vientiane.

Drawing in the Open

I always enjoy watching artists create their works whether it be painting, sculpting or drawing. In this case the artist is on NW 21st near Lovejoy. He was quite engrossed in his work and only looked up when I dropped my pen by accident.

Chihuahuas and Cockers

Walking the streets of any city including Portland's, you'll find dogs with their owners and waiting for their owners. Today's grouping is this chihuahua and the cocker shown below her. The chihuahua had been rescued by her owner after she had been abandoned on a roadway in California. She may be technically homeless but she always has his jacket to be zipped up into at night or when it's cold.




The cocker, on the other hand, likely has a warm home to go home to whenever its owners are finished with lunch at Jake's on the corner of 10th and Alder.

Alberta Street Fair

Another street fair ... this time Alberta Street!

Eating ice cream and watching her father ride away on her bike...


Here's a young violinist who wasn't that bad considering her age.


Walking along we also saw this mural that's a permanent part of Alberta Street.

Tanner Springs Park

One of my assignments today was to find an example of "Down to Earth" represented in lines and angles. Down to Earth could be literal or figurative so I decided to use this image from Tanner Springs Park. I chose the black and white format because it seemed to best showcase the angularity of this space.


Just to the right of that platform for accessing the pond is a grassy knoll for lazing on a sunny day.

Garden Walk

Today I took a neighbor to the Japanese Gardens here in Portland. It was a lovely morning and I was able to see one of my favorite maple trees...

Finding Life in the Industrial Area

Tonight I was part of a photo class in the southeast portion of greater Portland. Gentrification of the area includes restaurants and bars and galleries such as the one where my class is. As counterpoints to that gentrification are the railroad tracks and street people. So today's photos show both. The first speaks for itself as typically industrial with railroad tracks with bits of nature along the edges...



The second is of a fellow who wanted to know what we were doing. In exchange for that information and to have his photo taken with my friend, he let me take his photo. Joe is an extraordinary street person dealing with life. My friend is a wonderful person who humors me.

Bottle Tree

Blue bottles reign supreme in this fanciful yard sculpture. I can only imagine how much fun it must have been to drink whatever was in those bottles.

Found on Utility Poles

Walking this morning I came across several signs on utility poles. First up is a missing cat poster...


And later the image of this man stopped me in my tracks.

Hillsdale Farmers Market

Another trip out to the Hillsdale area of Portland. The Farmers Market there is small and compact with all of the fruits and vegetables you could want.

And entertainment. Did I mention entertainment? Today a mandolin and a guitar player.


who kept this little girl enthralled

Fremont Festival

Ah, August in Portland. Another weekend with too many choices of things to do. The Fremont Festival out in the Beaumont neighborhood attracted our attention. FF is a family friendly event with parades and runs and just about everything you'd want food-wise, including a Salsa Contest with all the tastes you want for $2.



Here's the table of my favorite salsa entrant.

More Portland Buildings

Yesterday I shared a photo of the Portland skyline from the east side of the Willamette River. Tonight Voice from the Couch and I went down to the Portland Art Museum to see some of our old friends hanging on the walls and to meet some new ones. Just as we were walking in, I noticed the Eliot Tower had become quite zebra-like.

Lounging on the Willamette River

A ride out towards the Sellwood Bridge here in Portland today took me to a part of the Willamette River where you can walk out on an inflatable dock and lounge in the sun. Or jump in as that one fellow is doing. He did take off his red cap before he took the plunge.

From Roosevelt to the Timbers

You just never know what's going to happen from one minute to the next. Walking in the South Park Blocks, I saw Teddy Roosevelt being buffed up by these two on the blue mobile lift. Fun times. Even more fun was watching the Portland Timbers trouncing the LA Galaxy in their 3-0 shut-out here in Portland. The photo of the Galaxy was the most composed that team was all evening. Beckham and Donovan seemed quite frustrated the entire game.



Galaxy


Timbers

Paradise Boxed and Crated

Early morning trips to the museum can lead to interesting perspectives on what happens when exhibitions change. Here's Anselm Kiefer's "Entrance to Paradise" boxed and crated ready to leave the Portland Art Museum to go only the gods know where.

Antenna Sighting

Portland has a reputation for being weird. As a matter of fact, many cars sport the bumper sticker "Keep Portland Weird". Although antenna tops are not unique to Portland, this one seemed to strike a slightly different note.