Portland is a big city, which I sometimes forget here in our little neighborhood. There about 650,000 people just in the city, and lots more in the surrounding area.
And as a big city, we see all sorts of odd, unexplainable things. Here are some of them.
…A sparkly mask outside the Electric Castle’s Wunderland, which is very popular for kids’ birthday parties.
A cartoon of a grumpy Dennis the Menace calling someone a “Nerd”.
And a sign showing that the city is making sure the local squirrels are safe. Have a good weekend! See you soon!
Since I have been learning about following where the art leads, I decided to do an experiment. Last week while I was playing with some orange acrylic, I had a big smear of paint left over on the tray. Rather than wash it away, I brushed some on to a textured meat tray and laid down a layer on an empty page.
I had no idea what it would be. I just put it down and went on to other things. The next day I looked, turned the pages in different directions, and looked some more. I saw this slight diagonal line where the two printings overlapped, and it reminded me of the brim of a smartly-worn top hat. So I took my nice fat micron pen and drew in a hat, then a face, and some hair. She reminded me a little of Josephine Baker.
I didn’t know what would come next. I made some more cookies, did a bunch of laundry, and went for a few walks around the neighborhood. I looked at the picture before I went to bed that night, and in the morning I knew how I wanted to go forward.
Collage of circles seemed a fine way to progress, but I wanted to be more precise this time, trimming the bits to fit. The top part of the hat, filled in with the patterns from inside security envelopes, took an hour, but I was happy with it.
I walked away, came back, and did the brim all in one piece, and then the hair, with the swirly pattern found on the inside of Yogi tea boxes. It is soft but curvy and just what I wanted.
I was just about done for the day. Dinner was calling. But from my collection box of papers shone a piece of foil that the Pittman and Davis Company uses to wrap their pears. Et voila. Hat done.
I let the piece sit for a few days, not sure what I wanted it to look like. I knew it should have a deep blue background, both to set off the orange and gold, and to look like night time. Straight blue acrylic paint out of the tube was exactly right. I put in just a bit of blue shading on the hat, and I am pretty happy with it.
It is weird, but that’s just about right. It just shows that you never know where the art will lead.
The libraries are open again! One of the many reasons we bought this house was its proximity to the lovely, tiny, Belmont Library. Built in 1924, this building is way to small to serve the current neighborhood, but I love it anyway. And I have missed it.
So, looking for a mystery to read and learn more about how to write a mystery, I headed off. Masks are required and folks were polite about keeping their distance.
Since this library has limited shelf space, if I want a particular book, I go online and ask that it be sent over from one of the larger libraries. But for this trip, I was willing to take potluck.
Hello, Old Friend
And while I hunted, I got to enjoy being in a building full of people who love books. Very nice.
I ended up borrowing three books: an English classic that I have never read, a collection of new short stories, and a murder mystery. I feel like I’m off for an adventure!
Street Fairs are back and not without a sense of Portland irony.
We have had two deadly heat waves this summer, so of course it rained on the day of the Hawthorne Street Fair.
Not wanting to find the place overcrowded in these Delta-variant times, we walked down early. In fact, some vendors weren’t even set up yet. But we wore our masks (as did a lot of folks) and got some books and yarn from Backstory Books’ sidewalk sale. We stepped into the Gold Leaf & Alter art gallery and got to see their offerings while visiting with jeweler Judy Goldblatt.
There were groups making music….
As the rain came (sometimes in buckets!) and went, we walked the street, talked with folks, and remembered the many reasons we love Portland.
A delicious “Ethiopian taco” (actually injera, a flatbread, served with a spicy chicken curry) from “Spice of Africa” was our lunch. We ate it under the shelter of an out of service bus stop during the heaviest of the rain.
Grandpa Nelson was the first customer of the day for Two Wahine’s Shave Ice. We signed political petitions and talked with folks about their dogs.
Even the Multnomah County Health Services got into the act, giving vaccinations right across the street from the Bread and Ink Cafe.
We were back home, changing out of wet socks, before the crowds kicked in. It was a wonderful, perfectly Portland day.
The neighborhood has gotten so pretty! It has been hot, and if people water enough, their flowers are just going nuts.
There are about a zillion varieties of dahlias, and they are all beautiful. Some of them grow taller than my head, and others are little guys about six inches tall. They all grow from potato-like rhizomes and I think I’ll put some in my garden next year.
Cone flowers are another plant that can be stunningly tall and showy. They have really prickly centers and petals that flop like skirts.
AND when you have coneflowers, dahlias, and sculpture all together in front of a delightful old house, it’s even better!
And just as summer is kicking into high gear, fall is getting in line. The change in seasons is told in all the gardens in the neighborhood.
Lantern flowers glowing in the afternoon sun
The oranges and reds of autumn are some of my favorite colors, especially when they are backlit by afternoon sun. They make me happy for the summer’s glory, and for the coming of the cozy holiday season.
Leaves are starting to fade…
The larger than life leaves of my pumpkin plant seem to be fading. They are getting age spots and some even are getting yellow.
Linus the pumpkin is getting all grown up!
And Linus, my own Great Pumpkin, is getting more orange and hefty by the day. His stem still shows no signs of giving way and he seems quite content to ripen right where he is. Love,
I have been taking care of Auntie Katie’s cats this week while she is on vacation. This means I have been getting to walk in different parts of the neighborhood.
There are cool old houses and huge trees in our Sunnyside, Richmond and Ladd’s Addition neighborhoods. I love the bright colors!
There are dozens of pieces of art put in place just to amuse people.
The weird Morrison Mini Art Gallery….
And there are generous folks who share their ripe fruit right off the trees with anyone who wants it.
One of the many things I love about our Laurelhurst Park is that it is always changing. Old trees die or are damaged in storms and need to be replaced, so we get to meet the new babies.
Bridgett, Grandpa Nelson, and Willie, Summer of 2018
Just after we moved up to Portland, this young Dawn Redwood was planted near the dog off leash area. We named it Willie, after my Mom.
Fall of 2018
Every time we walked through the park, we would check on Willie. That first autumn we were very worried. Willie’s thin, soft needles began to dry up and fall off! We looked up Dawn Redwoods and discovered that (whew) they are deciduous. That means they lose their leaves in winter. Willie wasn’t sick, she was just hibernating!
Winter of 2019Summer of 2019
After a long nap, Willie woke up in the spring and looked fabulous! She was a good foot taller. She apparently liked where she was.
Summer of 2021!
And she continues to thrive. This summer she is three years old and growing like a weed. In ten years or so, she may take on the look of her elders, which look sort of like the scary apple trees from “The Wizard of Oz”.
Last week, Governor Kate Brown invoked the Conflagration Act because of all the forest fires burning in Oregon. This impressively named law means that state resources can be used to fight local fires, and it makes sense. A fire that starts in one county burns straight through to the next, and there is no time to gather local forces.
Portland isn’t in any danger, though we suffered a bit from the drifting smoke, as well as the heat and dry air that has helped the fires grow. Our sunshine was an apocalyptic orange and folks with lung problems stayed inside.
I have grown up with a complicated relationship with fire.
Going camping as a child, I learned to lay a fire in a stove or fire ring and nurture it until it caught. I learned to make sure it was out by pouring on water and stirring the ashes. I have loved being able to create heat and light. It is a very primal skill.
I enjoyed it when, one winter in Salinas, our electricity went out and we had to depend on our fireplace for heat, even using it to make tea.
On a more creative note, Hale Pele, our favorite Tiki Bar in Portland, uses fire and cinnamon to delightful effects in making cocktails. And, of course, Hanukah candles warm our hearts in the dead of winter.
But fire has also given me some nasty burns when an old gas oven flared up, or when I fell over backwards into a bonfire.
Let’s say I love fire enough to run towards it, but am cautious enough to stop before I get too close. Not a bad lesson for most kinds of relationships. Closeness, but boundaries. Appreciation, but care.
When Grandpa Nelson got me a plot in our local Community Garden, I was excited to be able to grow fruits and veggies. I didn’t expect to be growing friends, as well.
There are about fifty plots in the Blair Garden, where I am, and I have gotten to know many of my fellow gardeners. We chat and swap stories while pulling weeds and watering. The folks with more experience give advice to us rookies. We help folks out with watering when they need to be out of town.
M
In short, we are part of a community.
Tonya watered my garden while I was in Lake Oswego, and this weekend I will water hers while she is at the coast. She harvested a few zucchini in payment, and today she brought by these two beautiful tomatoes for me. They were so pretty, I posed them with some of my lavender.
She also told me to cut a bunch of basil while I’m there. Pesto, here I come!
Dear Liza 