Walked 5.39 Miles - To Reed College

Today I decided to walk through the Reed College Campus. I was looking for somewhere away from construction. Previously, this distance along with the hills prevented me from getting all the way to Reed. Today I decided to give it a try.

I walked through the very industrial area just south of Holgate. I went this route because the buildings provided shade. It's going to be much hotter next week and I'm already dreading it. I had some decent leg pain which stayed with me for over half of the walk. That coupled with the heat made it not a great time. But by the end, I felt better and I was glad I did so much hill work. My time was fast since I didn't stop to take too many photos. I think how I'm feeling during my walk is a direct link to how many pictures I take. I passed by several opportunities, because I just wasn't feeling it.





I get to Reed and these signs are posted about every 10 feet. I took a picture and then proceeded to cross the fence onto campus. I was about 50 feet in when I realized that today is May 3rd. Doh! I'm pretty sure Renn Fayre must be this weekend. So I turned around and decided that I'd walk around Reed. 





This is the north entrance on Steele. I used to visit a friend at Reed and used this entrance since it was close to his dorm. I had a moment of feeling really old, because if these tree were there back in the day, they must have been tiny. And most of this area was a parking lot.





I didn't make it all the way around campus. I got to 37th and called it quits. I'm really excited to return when campus is open to the public again. The grounds are just so beautiful and now I can actually walk all the way here. This is a path leading to campus.





The neighborhood surrounding Reed is kind of boring to walk in. The houses and lawns are perfectly manicured. There were also no sidewalks which cut down on the interesting things one might see when walking. I was so glad to find this house to break up the monotony.





The same house had a tree filled with palindromes. 





I'm getting braver on my walks. This poppy was too stunning to walk past even through there was a dude working in the yard. Normally, I would walk on by and not stop. But today I did. Every little baby step helps me build my courage.





I was mentally honking in my head.

Walked 5.68 Miles - Westmoreland Park

Today I walked down to Westmoreland Park, because I had the day off. I love visiting the ducks and geese whenever I can. It was a beautiful morning and a really nice walk.

I walk past the Brooklyn Laundromat often. I've always like the laundry soap rainbow. Today I finally stopped inside to get a picture.





I like the reflection of the floor in the door of the dryers.








I love this mural by Chris Haberman. Brooklyn - frontier wisdom; it doesn't get much better than that.





I haven't been to this movie theater in ages. Mainly because I don't go to movie theaters much at all. I do have fond memories of seeing the late showing of Easy Rider when I was eighteen. I went with friends after work and almost got kicked out because the worker bee thought we were drinking. In reality, we had snuck in Martenelli's apple juice. That was back in the day when employees got a free drink after shift and we thought we were living large with Martenelli's. Hindsight makes me sad that I wasn't able to cash in on free booze - like my older co-workers.





I checked out the MAX construction from the Bybee bridge. Not much going on today.











The water was pretty high and almost to this park bench. You would have to wade in the pond to sit down.








If you wiggle your fingers, the geese will come closer to you, because they think they will be getting a meal. I don't let them get too close, because I want to keep all of my digits.








Such a cool tree house. It's 3 stories high and makes me think of Swiss Family Robinson. 





It ends where it began just beyond the horizon. 

Walked 5.57 Miles - Westmoreland Park

Today I headed to Westmoreland Park. Yesterday was an intense weather day with beautiful sun to monsoon downpours sometimes only moments apart from each other. It was pretty overcast when I started walking, but I took a hat and sunglasses just in case and I'm so glad I brought them both. I got very lucky and it only rained a bit. One the return trip home, I was treated with hail! So fun! It doesn't hail here too much and it's always a joy to see it.

My hummingbird was on the small tree in front of my house. He usually sits up crazy high in the neighbor's tree. He was close enough that I could see his beak open and close when he sang.





I walked along 17th to see how the Milwaukie-Portland Max construction was going. So much work! There are many groups working on different parts of the road. There were even flaggers in three different areas. 





It's getting to the point where it's almost too difficult to walk this street. There are so  many sidewalk closures. Crossing Holgate, I noticed that the digital archive building was being torn down. 








I found this pick up again in a completely different part of town. I can't wait to find it again.








I really dig this picture. Mushrooms on the side of a tree. They were about a foot over my head.





I walked up the Bybee bridge to see the MAX construction going on below. It's crazy to think there will be tracks here soon.





Here is a view from the north side of the bridge. The big metal thing on the left of this picture is hanging from the rig below and must be about 20 feet long if not longer. It will be pounded into the ground soon.





The park was pretty empty and the clouds rolled in pretty fast. Usually it's incredibly easy to take good pictures here. Today the ever changing weather and light made it tricky. 








These folks had a bag full of food for the birds. On the pole (very left) is a sign saying "don't feed the birds".








I didn't know that palm trees were so hairy. You don't see many of them in these parts.

Walked 4.23 Miles - Rhododendron Gardens

Man, oh man, was it rainy today. Hardcore downpour with lots of wind. I set out towards the Rhododendron Gardens, because it's been too long since I've been. The weather was so extreme that I almost turned around several times. I kept picking a distance up ahead as my turnaround point, but each time I got to that mark I kept going. I'm so glad I didn't give up. I like this picture, because you can see the rain coming down in a sheet up towards the top of the bridge. 

Here's a new development. It looks like the permanent sidewalk will go in soon.








Safety is attitude. Everyone should live be these 2 simple rules. 














This was the only duck out of the water and he just looked miserable. I could commiserate. I was soaked from head to toe.





I had the place completely to myself until this friendly dog and his owner came by. I got to pet her for few seconds. Love that.








The puddles were much bigger on the return trip. 





It was great to see the Max construction this far down. The Westmoreland golf course is directly to my left.





What do we do when we can't be together??





I could see entire large trees reflected in puddles. 

Photo Friday - Serene

This week's Photo Friday subject was perfectly suited to my walk last Friday. Westmoreland park is 2 miles from my house. It is such a beautiful park and so serene. Usually when I visit here, I stop walking and spend a few moments to take it all in and enjoy being in the present. I always leave here feeling lighter and happier than before.

Biked 7.79 Miles to Westmoreland Park

Greg needed to run five miles for his 1/2 marathon training and he suggested that I come along on my bike. He wanted to head to Westmoreland park since it was the right distance and not too hilly since we didn't know how slick the roads would be with all the frost. He didn't have to twist my arm to head back to Westmoreland park. 

When I was getting ready to head out, I knew that I wanted to look for frozen spiderwebs. My friends keep posting pictures of the crazy awesome spiderwebs they keep finding. They looked almost fake and I couldn't tell how much the pictures had been edited. I wanted to see one for myself.  Just a few blocks from home, Greg pointed out this spiderweb. I couldn't believe it. They really are that amazing in real life. I instantly fell in love with frozen cobwebs and couldn't wait to see more.








The signal at 23rd and Bybee were covered in cobwebs. It's funny to think about how many cobwebs are in our everyday world that we never see. Something like frost makes them stand out, so they can't be missed.





I've never been to the park this early in the morning or when it's been this cold. The fog on the water was just beautiful. I didn't take that many pictures, because it was quite the ordeal. I would jump off my bike, take my gloves off and put them in my bike basket, dig out my iphone, take pictures. I would reverse that plus blow my nose before getting back on my bike. Still, it was really worth it.





I was taking this picture of the casting pond when a very nice man walking his dog made a point of stopping to tell me about the frozen cobwebs he saw along one of the park bridges. He was bummed that he hadn't taken his phone with him today. I thanked him and told him that I'd definitely check it out.





Immediately after I left him, I saw this 2 foot cobweb. Just spectacular.













While stopped to check out the bridge cobwebs, I had to take a picture of my bike, Old Glory. 

Walked 5.23 Miles to Westmoreland Park

This week was pretty much sheer insanity at work. I have a few deadlines that are hitting at the same time creating a perfect storm. It's been stressful and keeping me up at night. One of the reasons why I like my job is because 90% of the time, when I walk out the door I don't have to think about it until I return. That quality of life is important to me. Sleepless nights and too much to do that I'm wishing I could bend time isn't fun at all. I blew off walking Monday and Wednesday, because I was so overwhelmed. Today I left work (Friday is my usual day off) feeling more on top of things than I had in weeks. I treated myself to a bellyful of Zenbu (my very favorite sushi place) and then went for a long walk in the glorious sun. I usually never walk the same place twice in a row, but I made an exception today. I walked to Westmoreland park hoping I'd see lots of birds again. And my last walk was just so great that I was hoping to recreate a bit of it again. I needed that after such a hard week.

I've really fallen hard for pictures of frost. I like how it accentuates the texture of the plants. It's just so beautiful. I didn't really expect to find frost at 2pm on a crazy sunny day. I was happy to see it.

The sun is shining through the peeling bark.





I didn't think that Westmoreland had any alleys, but I found two today that were each a block long with gravel. They were no where near each other. These were the first two alleys I've ever seen in this hood. I'm curious if are any more.





Throughout the entire holiday season, I looked for a giant Christmas tree ornament for a self-portrait. I saw many ornaments, but never any that were close enough to the sidewalk for me to get a decent picture. Finally, I found one on Jan 18th.





When I got to the park, there were no geese! Well, there were maybe 15 grazing on the lawn, but I'm pretty sure they are the same 15 that are always there. I saw a few fly overhead, but nothing like the huge skeins I'd seen the week before. (Fun Fact: geese are in gaggle when not in flight. They are in a skein when flying. Thank you, Wikipedia!) I headed to the back baseball field, because I thought they might be hanging out there.





I did find too many seagulls. There were probably a few hundred hanging out on the lawn and in the water. 





Their reflection is so crisp and the light was just perfect.





The ground was covered in feathers.





The casting pond (a 1936 WPA project) is one of my favorite parts of this park. The perfectly square pond of water with the beautiful ring of trees surrounding it is just spectacular. 





I hadn't seen this benchmark before. It brought back memories of when I worked for ODOT on a survey crew the summer after high school.





I was surprised to find ice at the back corner of the casting pond. 





When I got to the baseball field, there were still no geese. Instead, I hung out with my favorite ducks, the American Wigeons. They are so cool looking. You can see the ice on the water in the background.





This is called Uroboros, the name for an ancient Egyptian and Greek symbol that depicts a snake that bites its own tail. This public art was created by Charles Kibby and installed in 1979. I couldn't resist the-sun-through-a-hole shot. 













This hand painted tile was leaning against a tree at Winterhaven. I hope someone didn't forget to take this home. 

Photo Friday - Pattern

I really can't believe how lucky I was to stumble across these Canada geese circling before landing at Crystal Springs Lake - less than 5 miles from downtown Portland. Thousands had already landed and these adolescents were coming down fast. They made quite the ruckus and were just breathtaking to see. 

Walked Over 4 Miles to Westmoreland Park

This might be my favorite walk ever. The day was bright as can be. I wore sunglasses for the first time in ages and the sun was still hurting my eyes. I have standard Portland mole eyes and usually need to close my eyes for a bit when it's this bright. The weather was cold, but just perfectly cold. No need for gloves, but I'm sure glad I brought a coat. I headed to Westmoreland Park, because the weather was so great. I was rewarded with this amazing sight. 

The walk started off like any other. Here I'm soaking up the sun while waiting for the signal at McLoughlin to change.

I really didn't take that many pictures on my way to the park. The sun made it hard to see anything (I could barely make out the walk signal at McLoughin) and really, what else did I want to look at than the gorgeous sky. When the sun dipped behind a cloud, I could literally feel the temperature drop 10 degrees.








While waiting at the signal at 23th and Bybee, the sky was filled with birds. I hurried down to the water, but they had already landed in Crystal Springs Lake. I was bummed that I didn't get to see them land, but I was also just so thrilled that I got to see them at all. I've never seen this many geese in the lake before. There were several hundred birds.





They were pretty far back on the lake, but I could see that they were almost all adolescent Canada geese. They were definitely not full grown yet. All of the ducks quickly moved to the outskirts of the lake. They wanted nothing to do with these very active birds. I had already turned off my music at this point, because the geese were really vocal and it was just beautiful to hear. They also made a lot of noise beating their wings on the water. As I was taking this picture, I heard geese overhead. 





I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. The sky was filled with geese. They circled the lake a couple of times directly above my head. It was an amazing few minutes and I couldn't believe that another large group of birds had flown in. I took lots of photos, I'm not going to joke. It was a lot to go through and edit down. At one point, I told myself out loud to stop taking pictures. I'm going to indulge a bit and post several here. It's really something you don't come across very often.





























I even took some panarama shots.











At last, I pulled myself away from the birds and started for home. When I got to the edge of the park, a man probably in his 90's stopped to say hello. We talked birds and he said he started to count them all, but lost count after four. I took off my sunglasses to be more friendly and he said that I had the look of a movie star. That was pretty darn great. He told me that he walks here every day and that I should see the swans that come to mate each Oct and Nov. After a bit more small talk, he patted my arm and said that he was so glad he saw me and we parted. I really tried to get up the courage to ask to take his picture, but I just couldn't do it. It was just another perfect part of this walk.











Ice on the birdbath. 











This squirrel was directly above me eating berries. I reached up on my tiptoes to take the picture and little berries kept falling on my fingers. Really, this was just the most perfect walk. I will be thinking about it for quite some time.

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 3.41 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 4.77 Miles to Westmoreland Park

Fall is definitely on my mind. It's September and the school where I work starts soon. The season is changing and yesterday I heard the honking of Canadian Geese flying overhead; a sure sign that fall is on its way. I decided to head to Westmoreland Park to visit the geese.  

Crossing McLoughlin is never fun. It's a long wait until the light changes and it's just a freaking huge busy street. One the opposite side of McLoughlin, 5 little kids were on bikes with two adults. The walk sign came on and we all started to cross. A car turning left narrowly missed hitting this party. So scary. As I got to the other side, I saw this chalk writing "Don't Die". I've also experienced cars coming too close to me as I've crossed. I hope that folks will slow down and mind people in the crosswalk. 








I didn't realize the spider was there until after I took this picture. Sort of icky, sort of cool.

If you look to the right of this tower, you can see the moon. It looks super tiny here, but it looked amazing in real life. 





So as I'm walking and thinking about Fall being aright around the corner, I saw crocuses. Wait. What? How does that work? I was stunned. 





And I saw them in several other yards. I'm so confused.











There were many geese hanging out. Most were eating fast and furiously. There wouldn't even look up at me.





Instead, I focused on the ducks. There were so many sleeping all along the edge of the water. All the dots in the background of this picture are ducks. 








Today I walked in my Keens. I wear them all the time in my daily life, so I figured it was worth trying them on a walk. I had such a great walk. I had a bit of pain, nothing like I've been experiencing. I also walked much faster today. I had a great time. So I'm thinking it's time to figure out running shoes. I'm so very tempted (and nervous) to try a minimalist running shoe; I think it might work well for me.











There was a layer of feathers over most of the park. It was really quite amazing.



















My first lemon cucumber spotting!

 

Walked 4.01 Miles to Bybee

 

 

This morning was cool and cloudy; my favorite walking weather. I stood on my front steps for a couple of minutes trying to decide where to walk. Finally I decided to see what was new with the Max construction south of me. I continued walking to Bybee which is exactly 2 miles from my house. I walked up to Milwaukie Ave to loop home. I usually stay away from urban streets, but it was a nice change to walk through Westmoreland. I'm a big fan of Chris Haberman and it was so great to see this mural a couple doors down from the movie theater. What a great addition to the neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

Progress continues and the Advantis bank is almost on the ground.  

 

 

 

 

Yep. This honey bucket is locked to a power pole.  Stay classy, Portland.

 

 

 

 

While I think it's sad that this large tree will be cut down for the new Max line, I'm grateful that I live in a town where due process must occur before this tree is allowed to be cut down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody will fall in this hole.

 

 

 

 

More buildings are in the process of moving out. This warehouse used to be packed to the gills. It looks so much bigger now that it's empty. 

 

 

 

 

I've taken a picture of this bell many times, but I don't think I've ever posted a pic. I didn't like any of the pictures I had taken. I figured today was the day, because soon this bell will be gone.

 

 

 

 

A stone's throw from 17th and McLoughin is the first in a long string of strip clubs all along McLoughin.  Looking at the building shape and with some portholes as windows, I think this used to be a Skippers.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I love how Portland can feel like a small town. 

 

 

 

 

Walnuts! We have a million walnut trees in the neighborhood and lots of fat happy squirrels. It's the time of year where squirrels are harvesting like mad. We have squirrels that are constantly carrying nuts across our deck. Unfortunately because of this, walnut trees take root everywhere and we are constantly battling to keep them from destroying things in our yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen this flower a few times now and I love it. I don't what it's called or anything about it. It grows in tall stalks and the flowers are as intricate as an orchid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These flowers are stunning. And of course, I'm a fan of whatever the bees are into.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bank of lilies were so dark they looked black.

 

 

 

 

Here is more of the mural by Chis Haberman. It's set in from the sidewalk and adjacent to this dive bar door. Very nondescript and very cool.

 

 

 

 

The intersection of Milwaukie and Bybee is a happening little corner of southeast. Such great restaurants and lots of antique stores. It's nice to have this only 2 miles from my house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walked 4.66 Miles - Westmoreland Park

 

 

I didn't have a set walk in mind when I headed out today.  I ended up heading south and when I saw a pair of Canada Geese flying low overhead, I decided on my destination.  I hadn't been to Westmoreland park in months.  It was time to get my bird fix.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right after I took this picture, I noticed a man standing in a driveway.  I continued walking and he shouted something to me.  I was listening to Atlas Shrugged, so it took a few seconds to figure out that he said "watch out for the bees".  Bees!  There was a huge swarm of bees surrounding a flowering archway next to the driveway.  I just continued to walk and passed at the very edge of the bees.  It was a pretty powerful sight.  I really dig bees.  What a crazy job they do for us.  It was exhilarating to get to see so many at once.  

 

 

 

 

 

There was so much water at the park.  The last time I was here, the water was crazy low.  It was such a beautiful day and the park was filled.

 

 

 

 

So many geese!  They were scattered all through this very large stretch of grass.

 

 

 

 

This girl wouldn't stop staring at me.  She was probably about 5 feet away and pretty cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is truly a beautiful park.  

 

 

 

 

 The birds of this park are old pros.  They are not afraid of people or dogs.  I would call to them and pretend that I had bread to throw to them.  They would come running!  They knew the drill.  Once they figure out that I didn't have any food for them, they would walk away annoyed.  It's an easy way to get some close up pictures.  

 

 

 

 

All of a sudden, there was a ruckus behind me.  The lady in pink DID have food and word was getting out.  I was directly in the path of all the birds on the water.  They started flying quickly past me.  I just started taking pictures to see if I could get something cool.  Aiming and timing was pretty much out.  I had just a second or two as each bird flew by.

 

 

 

 

Once I got home and looked through my pictures, I was so happy to see that I did get a couple of interesting shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like how happy this figure is.  It captures how I was feeling during this walk.