Yes, it is still grey and wet here, but new life is popping up out of the mud. Every walk shows me new things.
Some daffodils are blooming, but those up the street are still biding their time. They will explode into yellow in a few weeks.
Beauty springing up from the mud
Other bulbs are coming up, too. These tiny iris live just down the block and are making the most of any sun we get.
Only six inches high, but lovely
Laurelhurst Park’s ravine area is a flooded, muddy mess, with an occasional happy Labrador splashing through. But near the top of the hill, the camellias are blooming.
Two different varieties of camellia, celebrating
The first crocuses are up, having a week of delicate glory before getting pummeled by the rain.
Paper-delicate crocuses
And, as always, the moss makes everything soft, wet and green. This old portion of a sidewalk from 1911 has been rescued, moss and all, and been installed in a yard. I love that someone appreciated it enough to do that. I sigh in quiet joy.
The sign of The Frog, ( photo taken on a sunnier day)
After a brief flirtation with the sun, our faithful wet weather has returned. Saturday morning, we all ventured out for some coffee and pastry. Three sets of boots and three umbrellas went trudging down the hill to The Frog.
Ghosts of bookshops past
This funky old Craftsman style house at SE Belmont and 25th was called the Portland Coffee House for years, then became The Rocking Frog. The Portland Coffee House must have had a literary bent, too, because some of the books at The Rocking Frog still bear the stamp!
Auntie Bridgett bathing in books
We love it for the freshly made doughnuts and coffee, but mostly for the cozy ambiance. The walls are lined with bookshelves which invite reading, thinking, and literary loitering. The small copper topped tables are filled with small groups of soft voice chatters or silent readers.
New discoveries!
And on a wet chilly day, the warmth and conversation is irresistible. We looked at books randomly pulled from shelves. I found “ The White Cliffs”, a novel in the form of short poems. It was written by feminist author Alice Duer Miller, whose writing encouraged America’s entry into World War II.
Photos of winter topiaries
Next, I pulled up “Ultimate Topiaries”, whose pictures of sunny, and even snowy, gardens, raised my February spirits. Reading always leads to conversations and we had, and overheard, quite a few.
Conversations that feed the soul…
When it was time to leave, a young lady at the next table noticed my Hufflepuff scarf and we had a delightful conversation about how the world needs helpers, not just heroes. Griffendores get all the attention for their battles, but we Puffs clean up afterwards and make dinner.
We had more errands to run during the day, but we were fueled and warmed by our hour in The Frog. We could do anything.
Yesterday, we got a break in the weather. It was actually sunny for five hours! Grandpa Nelson wanted a long walk, and I went along.
Broadway Books celebrates local authors
We headed north over the Banfield Freeway and up to Helen Bernhardt Bakery for doughnuts and cinnamon rolls, then crossed the street into Broadway Books. This is a new bookstore for me. Last year it hosted Michelle Obama for a reading and signing of her book, “Becoming”. It must have been crowded!
Sometimes you just need a laugh
The shop was bright and featured local authors, including this poster for the movie “Wild”, signed by author Cheryl Strayed. There were also books out that parody President Trump.
Continuing down Broadway and planning to cross the Steel bridge, we came upon Kitchen Kaboodle, a fancy kitchen shop. “Would they have your things?” Grandpa Nelson asked. I have been looking for new baking pans to fit the new silpats I got for Christmas.
They did, and we bought them! Of course, they were heavy, so we redirected. Instead of crossing the bridge and bussing home, we took a different path and walked home.
We went through Lloyd Center, which was built in 1960 and has an ice skating rink that has been used by thousands of kids and grownups, including local Olympic contender Tonya Harding.
Lloyd Center Skating RinkThe next Olympic contender?Well, of course!
Grandpa Nelson got some delicious Carmelcorn from Joe Brown’s, the oldest shop in the mall. It was here when the mall opened! The current owner is Joe’s daughter.
View of downtown while crossing Sullivan’s Gulch
We passed Benson Polytechnic Institute, a high school built in 1916 with funds donated by local lumberman and philanthropist Simon Benson. He is the fellow who gave all those water bubblers to the city. There is even in in front of the school!
Benson bubbler in front of Benson Polytechnic
We stopped at the food carts on the way home to have a sit down and get something to drink, then Grandpa Nelson headed home (carrying the heavy baking sheets) and I went to get my hair cut at Yen’s.
By the time I got home, I had walked six miles! Not bad for an old Grandma.
Do you know what my favorite thing is? Learning stuff!
For months now, I have seen and photographed this interesting, tree covered blue building going up right beside the Morrison Bridge. I see it everytime I take the bus to downtown. I even walked right by it when we went under the bridge.
Well, there was a news story yesterday that helped answer lots of questions.
Profile, showing how close the Morrison Bridge is!
Q. Who is building it? The architect is Ben Carr.
Q. Does it have a name? The building is called The Tree Farm.
Q. What kind of trees are they? How will they be watered? They called Strawberry Trees, though their scientific name is arbutus unedo. This kind of tree only gets to be ten feet high or so, and they are watered by individually controlled drip irrigation systems that allow for different watering needs depending on the side of the building, the floor of the building, and what the weather is like.
Q. How will the building support the trees as they get bigger? The framework of the building has been designed to support the extra 2,200 pounds that each tree is expected to weigh.
Old building, new building….
Q. Why was this building put here, in industrial Southeast Portland? This part of the city used to be factories and lumber mills. It is now warehouses and train yards, and has almost no trees at all. This building adds 56 trees, which will not only be pretty, but help clean the air and make habitats for birds. Also, when the people inside the building look out the window, they will look out over a canopy of trees instead of just freeways and rail yards.
Yesterday I took a walk in the rain down to visit Cousins Jasper and Kestrel. I took an unfinished doll Auntie Bridgett found while cleaning out her studio, and some fabric and other bits. It was a pretty, but drippy, walk, and I was glad for my umbrella.
Bioswale, doing its job
Along the way, I noticed all the swales in people’s yards had filled up. Swales are low parts built into yards, which usually look like dry ponds. Their purpose is to catch rainfall and runoff and let it soak into the aquifer instead of running down the street, carrying oil and pollution to the river.
Yesterday, they were full and happy, looking like actual ponds. I kept looking for frogs, but didn’t see any.
Lovely Kes….
When I got to Auntie Katie’s shop, I gave her some pinwheel cookies and headed upstairs to see the Cousins. They had a day off from school and were in art project mode. Kestrel was making a hibiscus headpiece as part of her Marin costume. Marin is a character from The Legend of Zelda. It is adorable.
And her doll
I showed her the doll and she figured stuff out while Jasper showed me an old video game console with Mario and Luigi punching a giant pink piranha plant.
La Sabrosita, the first food cart at Books with Pictures!
We got hungry and Kes and I braved the rain out to the FIRST food cart, La Sabrosita, in Katie’s parking lot. Basilio and his daughter make good burritos, tacos, and carnitas. We ate back in the house, but on sunny days in summer, the picnic tables are going to be a happy place!
When we finished lunch, it was time for me to head home. I walked, not wanting to end my adventure before I had to. By the time I got home I was very wet and cold, but that’s what dry socks are for!
After I enjoyed the dancing of the Chinese New Year dragons, I met my new friend Poppy Dully to enjoy the Fine Art Print Show across the street at the Mark Building. Now a part of the Portland Art Museum, the Mark was built in 1924 as a Masonic Temple.
It has the Masonic symbol over the door and wonderful architectural details inside. Huge bas reliefs decorate the walls of the main hall, and classic sculptures adorn the foyer.
The well-lit main hall was filled with displays from more than a dozen different galleries and dealers from all over the world, selling a wide variety of prints.
We saw this whimsical piece called “It’s 2 AM, Madame, Paris is Closed”, which cracked me up. It is by Bill Rock.
And speaking of Paris, there was a set of prints that were straight out of the Paris 1900 show! Toulouse Lautrec’s ladies and horses racing at Longchamps made me homesick for Paris all over again.
Seeing a print show with a print artist like Poppy is an incredible education! She explained the different kinds of printing, their stages, techniques, and inks so clearly that I wanted to get in and start etching. But I also realized that printing is not an art form you can just jump into. There is technical knowledge that you need, or nothing will work out.
Fortunately, there are schools and studios where people can go to learn. The Tamarind Institute in New Mexico was featured, as well as the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts in Pendleton, Oregon. This studio specializes in training Native artists who want to learn to express their images through printing.
We listened in as the dealer discussed this wonderful piece with a fellow looking to buy it, pointing out the details of how it was made and which layers were put on first. It was fascinating.
And just as we were heading out, I saw Auntie Bridgett’s favorite French printmaker: Caricaturist Honore Daumier. This piece of his shows Louis Phillip Napoleon having his nap disturbed by a giant pear.
When our eyes were full, Poppy and I had tea and chai at the Behind the Museum Cafe. It was quiet, interesting, and delicious.
Yesterday I was heading downtown to meet a friend at the Art Museum, and I got distracted by drums! I crossed the street to the Oregon Historical Society where about a hundred people were gathering.
Coming down the street were a couple hundred more, lead by a hundred foot long Chinese dragon! Then came smaller dragons of blue and yellow, even black! It was delightful and amazing.
The line of dragons and folks paraded up the ramp to the Jin and Julieanne Park Plaza in front of the Oregon Historical Society and did a rousing dance. The thumping drums were so big they had to be pulled in a wagon. People kept surging up the ramp, with people shimmying into gaps in the crowd to be able to watch, until we were all shoulder to shoulder.
People were dancing along, taking pictures, and boosting children onto their shoulders. When all the dragons had taken their turn, bowed their bows, and the last drum had thumped, the dancers removed their dragon heads and chatted with the crowd. The dragons, which had danced so fiercely, now seemed to be big fluffy muppets. They even let some kids touch their delicate trim.
The Lunar New Year Parade was presented by the Chinatown Museum and the Oregon Historical Society, and they had paraded from the one to the other, and I had known nothing about it. I felt so lucky to have been in the right place to see the grand finale!
As you may know, there is a trial going on in the Senate to decide whether President Trump should be removed from his office. The Democrats have argued that using the influence of the most powerful position in the world to force a weaker country to do your political bidding is wrong. The Republicans disagree.
There are a lot of negative feelings about it. We worry about how our country is seen in the world and how this may change how we are governed. Grandpa Nelson decided that the remedy for this worry was a nice, long walk to The Bipartisan Cafe. There was a solid rain coming down, but no wind, and about 50 degrees…. pleasant for this time of year. So I said, “Sure!”
We walked East on Belmont, past lovely old house that is being restored, and up onto the shoulder of Mt. Tabor.
I was thinking about how homeowners living here must battle to keep their houses secure against the elements when I saw this, a garage that is almost completely hidden by ivy. I guess sometimes, the battle is lost.
Lost garage!
Further up the hill, we found this delightful mosaic covered tiny library! The roof, glass door and tile exterior make it beautiful and weather proof. It was a joy to see.
Little library…
When we had worked up a bit of a sweat inside our coats, we reached to top of Belmont Street. There was the paved road down, or an “unimproved road”… guess which we took?
unimproved road… nice!
Yep. It was a bit muddy, but delightfully rustic. Tall trees and shrubs leaned over picnic tables and little yards. This would be heaven in the summer.
We headed down the East face of the Mountain into the quaint neighborhood of Montavilla. It used to be called “Mount Tabor Village”, but the name was too long to fit on the streetcars. They shortened it, and the name stuck.
Gnomes!
Enjoying the window displays (gnomes!), we finally arrived at our destination, three miles from home. We were damp but victorious. And there was pie!
Inside the Bipartisan Cafe… photo by Bridgett Spicer
The Bipartisan Cafe is decorated with old political posters, from John Tyler’s presidential run to John Kennedy’s campaign in the 1960s. It is funky, comfy, delicious, and feels very much like home. It was busy, but we were able to find a small couch all to ourselves, and enjoyed tea and pie.
As we sat there, we realized that our feet were chilly, that it was still raining, and that it was another three miles back home.
This is a re-post from last winter. I don’t feel up to writing this morning. I’ll get back to you tomorrow.
Mood lighting and menu
Yep, it’s still winter here… dark, grey, and drippy. Last night we needed to get out of the house, but it was too nasty to walk very far. Our first choice, the Suzette Creperie, was closed, so we stopped by a tiny place we have walked past a thousand times, called Rendezvous Vous. Since it was early, we were the first customers in.
There was interesting lighting and an appealing informality about the place… tables of different heights and styles, a few velvet sofas and chairs. A tall bookcase made of old doors held books and games, Star Wars Monopoly among them.
We were waved at by Nour, who seemed to be running the place by herself. She got us water, and got us some wine. I had a Bordeaux and Grandpa Nelson got a Chilean Pinot Noir. Both were tasty… really different from each other, but tasty. The Bordeaux had the dark balance of most Bordeaux wines, and the Pinot was sharp, like cider.
Soft and warm, just what was needed…
We enjoyed the music… Frank Sinatra, Pink Martini, and cool jazzy covers of old rock and roll songs. After a while an older fellow came in and sat at the bar, reading his newspaper and chatting with Nour. We got the feeling he was a regular.
We ordered our dinner. Manti, something totally new for me, and tuna poke for Auntie Bridgett. Turns out, Manti is a dish of small beef dumplings in a garlicky, tomatoey, yogurt sauce, and absolutely delicious!
I ate and enjoyed the combination of wine, spice, music, and soft lighting, and being in a new place.
When we got home, I had to brush my teeth three times before I could get a kiss goodnight! The garlic sauce, tasty as it was, had real staying power. I will remember to tread more lightly next time (burp.)
It is still chilly here, but we haven’t had rain for a few days. On Tuesday, we took advantage for the dry spell to get out for a walk. Auntie Bridgett wanted to spend some time in a comfy coffee house, Grandpa Nelson wanted a tasty snack, and I just wanted to get out of the house.
Eastside walkway between Taylor and Salmon
We bundled up with scarves and gloves, because it was only about 46 degrees. We wandered through the neighborhood, seeing the winter trees and noticing all the small, promising signs of spring on the way.
Daffodil buds starting to swell
We walked a mile to Common Grounds down on Hawthorne near 43rd Street and found just the comfy coffee house that Auntie Bridgett was looking for. It was busy but not loud, and had an interesting variety of tables, chairs and sofas. People sat alone, reading or working on laptop computers, or in pairs for quiet conversation. The electronic music was at background levels and very pleasant.
Friendly, busy barista
We enjoyed coffee, Fire Tea (a spicy turmeric and cayenne blend), and a delightfully chewy Squirrel Bar. Grandpa Nelson didn’t see what he wanted, so he went half a block down to Zach’s Shack for French fries, and came back and joined us for coffee when he was done.
The remains of the afternoon
It was nice, in the dark chill of winter, to be out among our fellow Portlanders. After a nice long visit, we walked home to make dinner.
Dear Liza 