Tag: Street murals in Portland

Another Fine False Spring Day

Dear Liza,

Spring hasn’t really come to Portland yet, but last week we had a perfect day. Sunny enough to make sharp shadows, warm enough to be out in but cool enough appreciate going inside, and full of things to do.

First, Auntie Bridgett and I headed north to Bolt Fabrics to get some backing fabric for the Crazy Quilt. We were early, we stopped in at New Seasons for some bee pollen and horseradish. We walked around Alberta Street, looking in windows and seeing what was going on.

We saw some happy folks painting new trim on a store that will open soon called “Golden Pliers Bicycle Repair.” I love to see new businesses opening up!

The murals of Alberta are always beautiful, but the sunshine really makes them smile.

When Bolt opened, we hunted around for the right color to back the super-busy super-colorful crazy quilt. Our friend Cynthia joined us and added her ideas. Black? Too strong. Bronze? Not enough. How about this purple?

Perfect! It will get washed and ready for the quilt very soon.

We headed to The Great North for a snack, but they had nary a chair available. Cynthia suggested “Just Bob”, down the street. It was stunningly friendly, funky, and comfortable.

A delightfully retro mix of chairs and sofas had room for us, with chai and coffee and even a light lunch for me. We chatted and ogled all the decor.

“Bob” seems to be a unicorn, and his likeness was everywhere. Small statues and figurines filled every shelf, and Bob the unicorn had been added to several old landscape paintings.

After our snack and seeing Cynthia home, the day just kept being busy.

I met MJ at the Blair Community Garden to do some early spring weeding. The Lesser Celestines are invading the parkway outside the garden gate, and need to come out with all their roots, so they will stay gone.

An hour and a half later, I was done, done, done. Home for a rest and a chat with Grandpa Nelson, who had been out walking in all the pretty weather and was home to crash, as well.

And after a nice dinner at Ankeny Tap and Table, we watched a very silly Alfred Hitchcock movie and fell happily asleep.

I’m glad I had this perfect sunny day…. Next week we get more winter!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Poet’s Beach

Dear Liza,

On Saturday, I took Auntie Bridgett on a walk to one of my favorite places, Poet’s Beach, on the West Bank of the Willamette. It is a three mile walk from our house, but it is all a gentle downhill slope, so it doesn’t feel that far! And since it was National Teddy Bear Picnic Day, we took Patches and Brown Bear along.

Walking through new neighborhoods is always fun, so I try to take streets I haven’t been down. This time, we discovered this new tiny free library. It has a chalkboard for messages, and the door opens UP, like a garage door. Very pretty and practical.

As we left the neighborhood and got down by the railroad tracks in the industrial area, shade was hard to find. We were grateful for our hats and the cool breeze from the river.

We found a beautiful new street mural in front of the Portland Opera. It is too big to show in one photo, but here is a fisheye lens picture that shows a keyboard producing music, which then swirls out into the world.

We got to the best bridge in town, the Tilikum Crossing. This bridge is only for pedestrians, busses, and trains. No cars! It is also the newest bridge and not a drawbridge, so it is quieter, without the bangity-bang of the older metal ones.

We picked up lunch at the Starbucks just on the other side, and carried it to our picnic spot by the river. Poet’s Beach!

This is a small area, just under the very loud Marquam Bridge. The river bank here is sandy and the bridge makes deep shade, which we really appreciated on the warm day. The reason this little area is called Poet’s Beach is that there are poems by school children etched into stones along the path down to the river.

We had our tasty lunch, harassed by a very bossy flock of geese who wanted some. They got a surprise, though, when a lady and her dog showed up, and the dog scared the geese right back into the river. We went on our way, too. We enjoyed watching folks play in the fountains and along the promenade of the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

We walked back across the Willamette on the Morrison Bridge, and then figured out that we were pretty tired. We caught the magic number 15 bus home and rested while watching the Giants beat the Washington nationals.

Another day in Paradise, as they say.

Love,

Grandma Judy