Joanie on the Pony

Dear Liza,

We had a perfect, sunny day yesterday! So after we had a visit from a lady measuring for our new window blinds, we headed out for a walk.

Auntie Bridgett has been telling me all winter how bright and colorful the spring is here, and now I know she wasn’t exaggerating. As we walked north through the Laurelhurst neighborhood, we saw layers and layers of color from azaleas, dogwoods, maples and camellias. It was amazing.

Our goal was Coe Circle, which was the end of the streetcar line back in the 1900s when this upscale neighborhood was developed. Once the streetcars were removed when cars became popular, the circle of lawn became a traffic circle, controlling the flow east /west on Glisan, and north /south on 39th.

Into this circle, in 1925, was placed a gold covered statue of Joan of Arc. This is a copy of Emanuel Fremiat’s “Jeanne d’Arc”, which is in France. It was paid for by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe as a gift to the city in memory of the Doughboy soldiers of World War 1.

In the traffic circle is also a huge cherry tree which has been blooming with great exuberance. This combination of statue and tree had been what I wanted to see…it was why I wanted to walk there.

And this was a bit of a let down, and a lesson. The statue was beautiful and shiny, as it always is. But the tree had faded a bit, as all spring blossoms do. It was lovely, but not at its best. Next year I won’t wait to walk up.