Walked 4.35 Miles - to Belmont

Today I had the intention of walking basically due North, but once I had crossed Hawthorne a huge black cloud started heading my way, so I turned East and just meandered with no clear direction. I quickly shed my coat after walking only about 10 minutes. It was really such a great day to walk. Towards the end, the wind picked up and I felt a few sprinkles. Both were so refreshing and I was grateful to not get too hot.





I climbed around on the new addition to the Brooklyn skate park. This is the first time I've been here in ages that no one was skating. I took the this opportunity to explore.





I'm standing in the original part, the bowl in the background is brand new. I love to see this skate park grow. I think it's really great for our area.


















I found another 1903 - on a stretch I've walked many times. 














Such festive decorations in this beautiful church.





Holiday dog walking signs were posted all over the area.








Col Summers Park is at 20th and Belmont. I saw these leaves 2 blocks away and just had to do a shadow shot. The ground was crazy soggy and I had to step carefully not to sink down to my ankles.








Dr. Locke must have been very important back in the day. I've never seen a raised block like this before. The house behind it was huge and gorgeous. I imagine Dr. Locke tying up his horse here.





The construction for the new Max line continues. 

Walked 5.01 Miles - Westmoreland Park

Today the weather was clear and bright and cold. Really, really cold. It's starting to feel like winter. I love walking in this kind of weather. I warmed up after a couple of minutes and besides a few strong wind gusts, it was the perfect temperature for me. I decided to head to Westmoreland Park to see the birds. I figured I should get down here at least once more before the weather gets too bad. The park is a bit further than my usual walks, but it is so worth it. Today, my feet felt great and I'm walking faster. Usually it seems to take ages to get to Bybee street, but today I was surprised by how fast I got there. 





I walked down 17th to McLoughlin. These three buildings just south of Holgate have the tell tale signs that they will be torn down soon. The businesses moved out several months ago.





I was having the same internal conversation that I have often on my walks. What if I can't find anything to take pictures of? I'm walking the same strip of land that I've walked so many times. What could possible be new? And then I saw this large plush dreidel. Again I realized that there will always be something new to see and there was no need to fret.














The entrance to the park is on Bybee. This is such a beautiful place. The park is quite large and there is so much water that there are birds here year round. These few Canada geese were just a fraction of the birds I saw.








These leaves are underwater. I like that I can see the outline of my head in this picture. 








So many geese! There were hundreds and hundreds on the baseball field.








It was almost dusk when I reached the park. I wished I had just a bit more light, because these ducks were so beautiful. There were also at least 100 American Wigeon ducks hanging out to. They would not be still enough for me to get a good shot of them. They do have the most adorable quack. They basically sound like a kitten quacking. I could have listened to them all day.





As I was leaving the park, I heard geese overhead behind me. They were so loud, they over powered my music. I was awestruck seeing so many birds flying in such a large group.





Ferns seem to be able to grow anywhere.

Walked 3.32 Miles - Around Ladd's Addition

The last many days have been very busy due to Thanksgiving. Greg headed to the airport to pick up his mom and I used that time to get out and walk. I skirted around Ladd's Addition choosing my route by picking sidewalks without many leaves. Most leaves are cleared away, but the ones that are left are all kinds of slippery. 

All of the squirrels are fattening up for winter. This little guy was right at eye level and just as adorable as can be.





This is one of the prettiest garden sheds that I've come across. The chandelier makes it extra fancy.








I walked around the grounds of Abernathy elementary school. There are some really great things here.











This cat took me by surprise. He was so still that I didn't notice him until I had almost passed him by. Even when I circled back to take his picture, he didn't move.

 

Walked 4.53 Miles - To the Waterfront

This morning was cold and foggy. I headed to the waterfront to check on the bridge construction and to hopefully get some pictures of the fog around the water and downtown. Quick minimalist shoe update: I'm still in love!  I had almost no pain today. I am noticing that the new muscles being used, because I'm walking a bit differently, get tired pretty easily. It's the feeling of muscles working and I like how that feels. It's a very normal feeling and not painful. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge with these new shoes. I'm feeling so optimistic!

I had so many pictures in my Hipstamaic app that I ended up deleting the app and re-installing it as an easy way to delete all of the pictures. This was the test picture I took to make sure my settings were set up correctly. My pictures today have more of a reddish tint to them and I prefer the more blue/green feel of my pictures. So I need to figure out what's going on so I can get back to the aesthetic I prefer.





The new bridge is starting to look like...a bridge! So exciting. As I was taking this picture, an elderly gentlemen stopped and we talked about the construction for awhile. Everyone I talk to is so excited about this new addition to Portland. I can't wait until it's complete. The Portland Spirit is in the foreground of this picture.





The public access dock next to OMSI's submarine was open. The last time I was here, it was closed. I love being this close to the water.





I always like walking by OMSI. We are so lucky to have OMSI in downtown Portland. It used to be up by the Zoo which is an area I don't get too all that often.





I always look at the falcon display on the waterfront. Falcons are probably my favorite bird. I'm so glad that they are thriving by living under our bridges. When I was in my old office at my school, I had the most perfect view of a huge tree which often had falcons perched at the top. I had binoculars to watch them. It was one of the best perks of my job.














Vera was fancy today with balloons on her feet. Seconds after taking this picture, a three year old spotted the pink balloons. She quickly had them off Vera's feet and on her own hands.








The fog had lifted by the time I got to the Esplanade. What a perfect November morning.

"The entire world was like a palace with countless rooms whose doors opened into one another" - Orhan Pamuk, 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for Snow (this quote is from Snow)

Photo Friday - Constructed

For the theme constructed, I figured I would head to Portland's waterfront and check on how the new brige is progressing. I'm so excited for this new bridge which is for mass transit and pedestrians. No cars will be allowed on. The bridge won't be finished for a few more years. I can hardly wait. I walked down here just as the fog was lifting and the sun was poking through.  I love the eerie look to this picture.

Walked 2.86 Miles - Oaks Bottom

Today I headed to Oaks Bottom. I have been trying to walk at least 4 miles now, but today I only managed less than 3. My new awesome shoes are giving me a couple of hot spots, so I didn't want to over do it. I'm still more than pleased with these shoes. I know it will take time to properly break them in, so I'm definitely not deterred. The evening sun was so beautiful coming through the trees. It was a great day to walk.





I could see these leaves from a couple blocks away. They were practically glowing.





I like the dichotomy of fallen debris in this daisy.





I walked past the house that previously had many No Dog signs.  All of those signs are now gone and this is their new sign.





My friend had posted on Facebook a few days ago that he had seen this deer family on McLaughlin. That makes me so nervous since that is a major thoroughfare. I was thinking about this and how I hadn't seen the deer lately. As I'm thinking this, I see this doe out of the corner of my eye fall back in this field. She started towards me and I was thinking she was going to come directly to me. About 20 feet before she got to me, she changed course and found an orange peel. She is chewing on it in this picture. I worry about these deer becoming too tame and harm coming their way because of it. 





This buck, the brother of the doe, also came out. He kept his distance and seemed to keep watch. I was surprised at how big he had gotten. It was great to see him. I didn't see the mom this time. Maybe her babies are big enough to venture off on their own.





I'm glad this field is fenced off. If it wasn't, I could see people trying to get too close to these guys. They were still here when I returned back this way. By this time a crowd had gathered to watch them. It's so weird to think that there is deer living just over a mile from my house.





The tadpole pond has water again! The last time I was here it was dry as a bone.

Walked 4.01 Miles - Kenilworth Neighborhood

Today I headed to the Kenilworth neighborhood which is between Holgate and Powell. I had a really nice walk. The sky was bright blue on this crisp November day.

Leaves are everywhere! I just learned that Brooklyn won't have a Leaf Day (street cleaners come through and pick up leaves piled in the street). We apparently don't qualify, but I wish they would at least pick up leaves on 16th avenue. The street is gorgeous with its huge trees. But now I find myself avoiding this favorite haunt, because the leaves can literally be 4 inches high in spots.









It's been awhile since I've walked the Holgate overpass that crosses over the Brooklyn Yards. 





I like the contrast of these Cosmos against the fallen leaves. It's a clash of seasons.

















Kenilworth is pretty important in my life story. My mom dated the minister of the Kenilworth church which prompted our move from Central Oregon to Portland in 1985. The minister's house was about 4 blocks from the church and I had walked that route a million times passing by this building. I have always loved this Community Music Center. The building is so cool. It was nice to walk here again and to think back to that part of my life.





I took a self portrait here too.





A lady stopped to talk to me while I was taking this picture. I found out then that the pause button on my headphones doesn't seem to be working. She had a full conversation with me and I never heard a word of it.





I walked through the Kenilworth park on my way home. There is something so calming being close to such big trees. It's so peaceful here and many families were out enjoying this park.











I have exciting news! I finally bought a pair of minimalist shoes. I am so excited to see if this helps with my leg pain. The shoes are so comfortable. I've never had a more comfortable pair. I could feel that I was striking the ground a bit different. I'm feeling muscles I haven't felt in a long time. I think it will take some time to build stamina and get used to walking a bit differently. I'm so hopeful that this is the fix I need to finally do away with my leg pain. I'll keep you posted on how things progess.









Fancy!

Walked 4.05 Miles - SE to 39th

Today I crossed over the Gideon pedestrian bridge and headed East to 39th street. I like this route, because it's almost exactly 2 miles to 39th and there are so many different roads I can walk on to get there. I love the variety in this area.

Always sound advice.








It looks like this tree has a nipple ring.












High Tech 1

 

I love finding mushrooms! They are everywhere and just the coolest things ever.

Photo Friday - Evening

Daylight Savings helped me with this photo. I walk in the afternoon/early evenings and we 'fell back' last week, it hadn't been turning into evening when I was out and about. Today I got my chance during the last few hours that this challenge is still up.  

Walked 3.15 Miles - West Hills of Brooklyn

For today's walk, I headed to the West Hills of Brooklyn. 





There are still a ton of pumpkins and decorations out. 








This bottle of whiskey still had about two inches left in the bottle. I really like this picture, because you can see me and the beautiful blue sky in the reflection of the bottle.





It really was such a beautiful afternoon. Hardly any clouds and the setting sun was casting everything in golden light.

Now that the rain is back, mushrooms are popping up everywhere.

Walked 6.00 Miles - SE Salmon Street

 

This was a very cathartic walk for me. I spent  the entire past week caring for Trilly, my 16 year old cat, who went downhill unexpectedly fast. It was evident that old age had finally taken its toll, so Greg and I kept him comfortable and helped him through the transition of dying. It was a really rough week both emotionally and physically. He finally passed yesterday morning. I'm so grateful that I got to spend this time with him and I'm also grateful that he's no longer suffering. Today I wanted to walk to clear my head and stretch my legs. Amazingly, I had not a twinge of pain during this walk. I can't remember the last time this has happened. It felt so good to walk, that I just kept going. 6 miles is the farthest I've walked in such a long time. 

 

 

 

Construction taking place directly next to the Westside of the Gideon pedestrian bridge. It's a sad reminder that this bridge will be gone soon. I'm still hoping Portland finds money somewhere to replace this structure once Max is completed. I see so many people using it all the time.

 

 

 

 

Trilly died on Dia De Los Muertos which was a little comforting.

 

 

 

Yes, even our cars have mustaches. 

 

 

03 - as in 1903? I didn't want to get too excited, because these markings were so different. Sept 12 - I've never seen the actual date on cement markings. I was pretty sure that it truly was 1903, but I still had a shred of doubt.

 

 

1903!! This was a block farther down and there can be no mistaking that these markings are from 1903. I really didn't think I'd ever find this year. I'm still looking for 1905 and 1906.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, these two comics were on opposite street poles. I totally don't understand them, but for some reason I can't stop laughing when I look at them.

 

 

 

 

Sunnyside School is an environmental school. Their grounds are complete with chickens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The election is so close! I'll be glad when the whole ordeal is over.

 

 

Fort Awesome! 

 

 

I was just thinking that I hadn't seen any Kanye stickers for awhile. I was walking in prime Kanye territory, so I definitely kept an eye out. I couldn't believe my luck when I found this gem. 

 

 

A small lending library on a completely residential street. I would love to have something like this in my yard. 

 

 

 

There were several times that I cried, thinking about Trilly,on this walk. My sunglasses on this gray cloudy day came in really handy. I saw cats and cat  motifs everywhere I looked. 

 

 

 

 

Everyone was out raking leaves into long piles in the street for the street sweepers. I'm glad that Leaf Day was coming soon to this neighborhood filled with such huge trees. It was getting kind of hard to walk through the leaves that have piled up everywhere. Sidewalk cracks were suddenly hidden, so I was extra cautious. Also, with the recent rain, the mushy leaves are in full force and made walking slippery.