Walked 3.52 Miles - SE Portland

 

Today's walk was much improved over Monday's. My legs felt much better and I had a really nice time. I sure do love this cooler fall weather. It was nice to have the sun out and not be so hot. I crossed over the Gideon pedestrian bridge and just headed East. I haven't walked here for quite some time.

 

I really don't like the pedestrian cross walk at 14th and Powell. I know I've said it before and I might say it again. I'm trying to channel my frustration over the too long of a wait for the light to change by taking a picture while I'm waiting. It does make for a great distraction. 

 

 

St. Zita's Parish

 

 

This is one of my very favorite houses to walk by. There is always something new and interesting here. There was so much greatness here, that I spent time looking at everything.

 

 

Under the flags hanging on the fence was this cup of pens labeled: Participate.

 

 

This was favorite it one. It's also a great segue into the next crazy awesome part of this yard.

 

 

The Chicken Porch! I sort of think it's more like a bay window. The 6 foot fence that buts up against the sidewalk runs the entire property. I can't actually see any part of their yard except the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street. But there is now about a 2 foot bay window in the fence for their chickens to see the world go by. This is the closest I've gotten to urban chickens. I really liked just watching them for a bit.

 

 

There are plants and all kinds of things in the road verge (also called devil strip, tree belt, or sidewalk buffer - from Wikipedia) as well including this tiled bench. The dollar was already there.

 

 

This was the other side of the bench and there was a collection dish next to it.

 

 

 

 

 

This was in the marquee of a church. I wish more churches would recognize that it's just love.

 

 

This little guy was flying in the wind.

 

 

 

This is my favorite decoration so far this year! I put this picture on Facebook and a friend let me know that today is the 60th anniversary of Charolette's Web. That is Some Pig. 

 

 

 

Smile - you're on camera.

 

Walked 3.41 Miles - Westmoreland

This was not a great walk. Besides having pretty decent leg pain, my camera was acting up. From bad focusing to the weird look (hue?) of the actual pictures, I don't have much to show for today. I thoroughly cleaned my iphone camera lens and I hope that will solve things. We'll see. 

I walked down to the entrance of the Brooklyn Yards to see this huge new structure for the Max line. 









A few small buildings have come down on 17th. These were mostly Tri-met maintenance buildings. 

Walked 3.85 Miles - Ladd's Addition

We got a break from the heavy rains and I took the opportunity to walk over to Ladd's Addition. I wanted to try and find a street lined with fall color leaves. I was amazed at how many people were out and about today. It's common to see people on my walks, but today it felt like Ladd's Addition was packed with people. Like me, I think folks realized that when the sun is out and the weather is this perfect and we should soak up as much of it as possible. This was really a great walk. I changed shoes to my blue sneakers and didn't have much issues with my legs. It's the best walk I've had in quite some time.

 

 

It's been awhile since I took a pic from this location. I spent some time looking through past posts and it was so interesting to see pictures from this spot from last year. I'm so glad I keep taking these construction photos. It will be great to see the progress long after I've forgotten all about it and the new Max is the norm.

 

 

Tempting Free Box. I almost snatched up Zoolander.

 

 

Do not fear mistakes. There are none. - Miles Davis. I wasn't familiar with this quote, but boy is a good one. I think it's especially poignant on this very large tree stump.

 

 

There were 4 squirrels here eatting the corncobs someone had tacked up to a tree. Even with so many people out, there were a ton of squirrels on my walk.

 

 

 

 

Arty self portrait. This spinner wouldn't stop spinning. I'm surprised I was able to catch myself at all.

 

 

I'm pretty sure my family had these lawn chairs on the 80's. 

 

 

I know I've been on a cat kick lately. I hung out with a few friendly cats on this walk. One followed me all down an alley. He was next to me as I spied this cat with a bow tie. Too good to pass up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I took this picture, I was walking past the white house on the right when a man on the porch started talking to me. I turned off my headphones and asked what he had said. He told me that the large sculpture on the right was for sale and did I want to buy it. I told him it was very cool, but I wouldn't be buying it today.

 

 

 

 

I found this yarn bombing first at the big turn around at the very heart of Ladd's Addition. Later one, I found the yarn bombing in the top picture in the East rose garden. I looked for more in the South and West rose gardens, but unfortunately, I didn't see any more.

 

 

Bunnies! This is my first bunny spotting. The guys were chilling in the yard right at the sidewalk. 

 

 

Shuffleboard! Another first. 

 

 

The decorations are in full swing now. I'm amazed at how intense some of the yards were in all of their gory decorations. I kept looking for a hand coming out of the cubby hole of the huge trees that line the street. I think that would be especially spooky.

 

 

 

 

This building next to the Gideon pedestrian bridge has the tell tale signs that it will be gone soon.

 

Walked 2.62 Miles - West Hills of Brooklyn

After the massive amounts of rain that Portland has seen over the past few days, I stayed close to home on this walk. The clouds were ominous at times and at others the sky was bright blue and sunny. I opted for no coat and just a hat to protect me from the rain. I'm a true blue Portlander and getting wet is not a worry of mine, but the monsoons of the past few days are a little much even for my webbed feet. I wanted to be able to beeline it home if another monsoon hit. Luckily, it only rained a bit and it was a great walk.

















I love these bright purple berries. I have no idea what plant this is. I've been trying to get a clear picture of these little guys for a really long time. 





The sight of these trees took my breath away. The sun's evening rays almost made the trees glow against the rainy gray background. 





I spent some time walking all around these trees taking pictures from every angle I could imagine. 





They made me so happy that I wanted to remember being in this moment.









Yes, we do have many homeless folks in our neighborhood. For the most part, they live in harmony around us. I like this idea of leaving canned food out. It's such a nice gesture especially as the weather starts to turn. 





The top of this was probably 15 feet in the air and marked the entry gate to the house.





I love seeing patterns in my walks. This is a tomato plant holder I found many blocks away.





I've passed by this wall before. It was only after seeing this damage that I actually took a good look at it.









I love the shadows on this plant.





I have no idea what this plant is, but the bright tomato red perfectly round balls against the green feels very whimsical.





Lost headphones dangling over a stone wall. I hope the owner comes to claim them.

































Halloween is on its way! I can't wait to see more decorations.





A sure sign that summer is over. The sidewalk chalk is soaking wet.





I haven't stumbled since my walk a few days ago when I stumbled twice. I have definitely been much more cautious and keeping my eyes peeled for these kinds of things.





I love this picture! This cat was fiercely keeping watch over these 3 free roaming chickens. He would not take his eyes off of me as I slowly walked the entire length of this yard. I was really just blown away by this on so many different levels. Chickens just chilling with no fence to be seen. A cat obviously intent on taking care of those chickens. All in the very urban heart of inner SE Portland. I'm so happy to live in Brooklyn where this kind of awesomeness is a common thing.

Gervais 5k

I participated in the 2nd annual Sacred Heart 5k in Gervais, Oregon with Greg and my mom-in-law. Last year, I came in 3rd place in my age category. Granted, there were only 3 people in my age bracket, but it was still super fun to win a ribbon. I was looking forward to defending my title this year.





I didn't take any pictures while I was racing. I had my phone in my coat which I had quickly shed minutes after the race started. I didn't want to bother with having to try to fish it out of my pocket. I just focused on the course. I took this picture before the race started. Watching geese fly south while I raced was such a pleasant distraction.

I had set out to only walk this 5k. My leg pain was so dire, that I started to shuffle along just to finish faster. It was the first time I had run since I sprained my ankle on March 24th. I probably ran about 1/3 of this 5k. At one point, when I shuffled past fellow walkers, I heard one person say, "that's either a fast walk or a very slow run". Yep, that's my shuffle. I was very relieved when I crossed the finish line.





This year, only awards for the top finishers were given out. I have no idea where I placed in my age group, but I'm hoping I came in third. They had Door prizes again this year. People got to pick what they wanted in order of how they finished. There was everything from exercise equipment to a Justin Bieber CD. When it got to me, the only things left were baseballs and pumpkins.

My mom-in-law and the farmer are gracious enough to sponsor this small run. Schlechter Farms is an Oregon century farm. We love stopping by the farm to visit with them and to load up on amazing veggies! 

Walked 3.19 Miles to Oaks Bottom - in the Rain!

The rain is here! It's been such a long dry spell and I was ready for the rain. I added a jacket and hat to my outfit and headed out to Oaks Bottom. It was the first place that popped into my head, because I was longing for that area to get some water. It's amazing how my spirits change in the rain. The air smelled amazing and the rain was refreshing. I felt like I can breath easier in this weather. 

 

I'll warn you know, I mostly took pictures of rain drops. It's been 80 days since it rained and I had forgotten the iphone/rain balance dance. I took less pictures in general, because my phone was getting crazy wet. I was soaking wet when I finished.

 

The strip mall is down! It's amazing how fast these changes happen. They just started 2 days ago.

 

Our neighborhood Chinese food restaurant has lots of movie memorabilia. I like this neon Alfred Hitchcock.

 

Oaks Bottom was beautiful. At one point, I turned off my music and just listened to the rain in the trees. It was a pretty good down pour. It was incredible.

 

This was under the train tracks at the Spring Water Corridor turn around. 

This is the only photo I took on the return trip. I was waiting for the signal at Holgate to change. For the rest of walk, I put my phone away and just enjoyed staying present walking in the rain. It was a glorious walk. It was just what I needed.

Walked 2.47 Miles - SE Portland

Today I walked over the Gideon pedestrian bridge and then meandered up to 26th, north to Clinton, and then back home. It was a bright sunny day, but cool and comfortable. 

I had two cats run up and wrap themselves around my legs. So sweet. Only one held still long enough to get a clear picture. 











I crossed at the pedestrian light at 14th. I was getting annoyed, because the light was taking forever to change and I hate being on display on Powell. It's such a busy road. Then I looked up and saw this heart, it immediately changed my mindset and I was grateful that the light was long enough to get this shot.

 

I decided to walk over to 26th and Clinton. I love this little village. 

















Erotic Robots of Dawn.

















I've walked past Mason's countless times. It's a cool building that will be gone soon to make way for Max. I had never seen this back painting before. It's amazing to see new things on an old walk.

 

Seconds before I was going to cross the train tracks, the red lights started flashing. I looked both ways and saw no train. I figured it was safe enough to cross. On the other side, I was taking this picture of the red flashing lights as Amtrak zoomed by. It completely surprised me and I jumped.





I have walked past this sticker many times and it's always kind of freaked me out.

 

I spent some time trying to photograph the curly plants. Very hard to do with Hipsta. As I was trying to get a shot that wasn't completely blurry, a cat rubbed up against me. Such a friendly cat day. It was really great. 





I decided to see if the first two cats at the beginning of my walk were still hanging around. They were. We started to get friendly when the postal truck scared them away.

Walked 1.50 Miles - Brooklyn

I didn't have that a lot time to walk today, because Greg and I were headed to a mini vacation in Silverton and I had much to get done first. I stuck to my main Brooklyn hood on this sunny, but cool fall morning.

 

 

 

I just can't get enough of these chestnuts. They look so alien.

 

 

 

I was taking a picture of a flower when I noticed a ton of bees around me. I realized they were coming out of this hole. Do you see the two bees headed into their hive? It was a little scary squatting down so close to this active site, but it was so amazing to have this many bees flying all around.

 

 

 

I stopped for a short chat.

 

 

I had a bed frame just like this growing up. This guy is now an arbor to support heavy plants.

 

 

 

I love this picture! These sunflowers were about 15 feet off the ground. I took this picture on my tiptoes. I love the moon in the bottom left corner.

 

 

 

First the Semaphore came down and now the entire strip mall is being demolished. I'm not sad to see it go. I never went to any business here and I'm hopeful what new greatness will arrive when the Max stop is here.

 

 

Holgate and 17th is changing so rapidly. I'm starting to forget what it used to look like. I can't even imagine how it will look in 3 years.

 

Walked 2.91 Miles - West Hills of Brooklyn

Today was a hot windy day. I figured I would stick to the West Hills of Brooklyn and my path was directed by which streets had shade. This tree is in my neighbors yard and I love to see the apples growing. 









Chestnuts are everywhere. I have to be careful not slip on them.




















I started listening to Middlemarch on my walks. I had read the book by George Eliot about 4 years ago and really liked it. I figured it would be a good choice for walks since I knew the story, so if I missed parts due to loud traffic or distraction or whatever, it wouldn't matter. I learned that when I turn up the volume on my headphones, it takes a picture when I'm in the Hipsta app. I ended up with lots of pictures like this.  I put perler beads on my headphones, so they would be easy to distinguish mine from Greg's. It's a great look and I like it, but it does add weight to the headphones and they don't coil up very well. 





Progress on the Max construction.





This cat was so sweet. I stopped and spent a few minutes enjoying his company.




















This  is a little hard to see due to the sun and shadows, but these chalk drawings of Thing 1 and Thing 2 were extraordinary.















It was such a classic Americana fall day. 





I went up to the new Brooklyn Community Garden. We had watched the fireworks from this empty field last July and it was great to see it as a garden now. Most plots are lined with these stones which gives the garden a regal feeling.