The View from my Window

The View from my Window

Fall came suddenly this year in the Pacific Northwest.  We were enjoying summer one day and the next day the skies opened and the water poured down.  It rained hard for a week and a half.  The trees, with their full complement of leaves, were heaving in the wind.  Branches broke, power lines snapped, and gutters overflowed in every neighborhood.

Some deciduous trees change color and drop their leaves in response to temperature, others in response to day length.  Two weeks into October, the temperatures are dropping, the days are growing shorter and the leaves are changing in every neighborhood.

From my office window the view is dense with foliage.  Against the dark green of Douglas firs, the native alders turn a rusty yellow.  They are not showy trees.  Another native, the Big Leaf maples are slightly lighter in hue but again, they don’t wear their colors like a debutante wears a gown.  More pale still are the cottonwoods, and while they aren’t bright with color, they are bright with movement.  Their leaves flicker in the wind and catch the eye.

Because I live in the city, there are many non-native trees in the landscape.  From my window is a luminous yellow tree which glows like a round torch when the sun strikes it.  Even on a dark and cloudy day it shines in bright contrast to the somber natives.  My eyes are drawn to it again and again during its brief time of seasonal glory.

There are reds and russets of maples and oaks and more yellows and oranges of elms and ash.  The purple-leaved ornamental plums turn a burnished bronze as the temperature dips.  The sweet gums and dogwoods, the tulip trees and liquidambars all blaze as their chlorophyll breaks down and the trees store up energy for the winter.

Soon, the deciduous trees will be bare but our hills never are.  The evergreens are as thick as a winter pelt.  Douglas firs tower over the landscape whether in town or in the country.  There are cedars and spruce and pine on every hill.  As the deciduous trees fade into the background, the conifers make up for their absence.  The variety in shades of green is astounding.  Some so dark and deep that they nearly look black and others almost a yellowy green that reminds us spring will come again.

But today, the view at work is dominated by that glowing ball of bright yellow.  This tree will hold its leaves for another week or so and the parade of colorful trees will march in time for a little longer.  After that, rain-soaked woods and a palette of gray and green will be the view from my window.

Building Boom in the Rose City

Building Boom in the Rose City

It seems the economic slow-down or recession or whatever you want to call it is over.  Building projects are leaping up all over the damned place. 

The Albina Fuel location is FINALLY moving forward.  They knocked down all the buildings on the site, scraped up the rubble and are working like beavers at constructing the new thing.  It’s going to be the typical layout – ground floor retail and condos above.  The ground floor retail is supposed to be, get this, a New Seasons grocery store.  Wha….?!?  Yes, right between Freddy’s and QFC, and down the street from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.  Well, it’s not like we won’t have choices.  They will be adding a traffic light at 32^nd, which is going to be necessary when they add the hundreds of dwelling spaces.  It feels odd to have  a giant construction crane looming over Broadway. 

There’s a so-called ‘super-block’ being developed in the Lloyd District.  It’s the property that once was a private parking lot between Multnomah and the Max tracks.  Next door to the computer store.  I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a mix of ground floor retail and business and condos above.  Sound familiar?  This is our future, apparently.  Right now, they have a tall chain link fence with tarps on the inside all around the property.  I kind of resent that because we all like to watch stuff being built in our neighborhoods.

The new bridge over the Willamette is going along nicely.  It’s actually nice looking so far with a spiderweb of steel cables stretching from the towers to the road bed.  I’m supposing it will be a lift bridge because yes, we are a PORT and shipping should be able to go further up the river than that.  At least, I’d bet the businesses in Oregon City think so.  I’m actually pretty excited about this bridge.  It’s going to be used for light rail, bikes and pedestrians.  Not cars!  Well, probably buses and maybe emergency vehicles, but not cars in general.  Good.  Progress.

I had mentioned some time ago that there was a building going up at that wacky intersection of Burnside, 12^th and Sandy.  It looks like it is nearing completion.  I understand that it is supposed to be a senior living facility (no doubt over ground floor retail).  I’m not sure why it’s going up right there – other than the obvious: someone wanted to build something big and had the land for it.  What I mean is, there aren’t any obvious services geared to seniors in that neighborhood.  There is a bus line or two.  And, plenty of bars and a couple of strip joints… I suppose the Franz bakery might have cheap bread for the oldsters.  But, it’s not really even a very walkable location.  I don’t get it.  Maybe I need more info. 

I have also mentioned the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building and its big redo.  Looks like they might be nearing completion on that.  I really need some pictures to do this post  justice.  The outside of this building looks like a giant pipe organ.  I don’t know if they make noise, but the front of the building is covered with rows and rows of massive upright pipes.  I suppose it’s some form of green technology and it is interesting looking.  I’ll give it that.

I have taken the bus a couple of times this week, and there are some updates along the route.  I’ll be back on the bus more, what with the weather getting so very wet suddenly.  I’ll take better notes, because there are things happening!

Successful Experiment

Hi!  Have you forgotten that I have a blog?  Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten.  But, hey, I'm here now so let's get on with it.

Birthday season in my family is just starting to taper off.  April is a challenging month!  Last weekend we had birthday celebrations for the mother in law and the niece...  mother in law turned 80 and niece turned 18.  So, that called for a party, of course!

Not that they needed more food or more desserts, but I needed to get some fruit out of the freezer so I volunteered to make a cherry pie.  I buy pie cherries and jam cherries from Fruithill Farm in Yamhill, Oregon.  You have to buy a 4 gallon bucket at a time.  You can get them either with or without sugar.  With sugar is recommended for pie cherries (it helps keep their color bright) and without sugar is best for canning and jam.

Two years ago I got a bucket of each.  Last year year I only got the cherries without sugar.  I make a lot of jam, but not that many pies.   I had several ziptop bags of cherries in the freezer at my parents house -- probably enough for a half dozen pies.  Well, my dad called a week or so ago and said that his fridge was misbehaving and he thought I should come and get the cherries before they defrosted.  I did so, and quickly. Those cherries are way too good and too costly to squander!  I brought them home and put them in my small chest freezer.

Besides the cherries, I had several small batches of berries frozen too.  I like to freeze berries individually on a plastic cutting board and then bag them up for later.  We love the berries in a mimosa!  I had several bags of strawberries, raspberries and one bag of blackberries.  Mostly from our garden, but some from the farmer's market.

So, I decided to make a cherry pie for the party and asked my partner if her mom would like that.  She said yes, but she'd rather have a raspberry pie.  I didn't have enough berries for a whole pie but enough for two medium sized tarts.

I have been searching for small pie pans for a long time and recently bought two new contenders.  One is a ceramic 5 inch deep dish (Chantal) and the other is a metal (Fat Daddio) 6 inch, much shallower.  They aren't exactly what I was looking for but this seemed like the perfect time to try them out.

I got the dough started and let it rest in the fridge.  Then I got the fruit into two separate pans on the stove.  It was at this point that I became frustrated with myself.  No matter how many times I dug through the pantry, I could not find any cornstarch.  What?!  No cornstarch?  How the heck was I going to thicken these juicy berries without a quick trip to the store?

People, let me tell you, it is possible.  At least, it's possible if you happen to be an avid jam maker and happen to have several kinds of pectin on hand.

Yes!  It's true!  I made a pie and two tarts using pectin to thicken the fruit instead of cornstarch!  I was pretty pleased with myself, I have to say.

For the berry tarts, I started with about 4 cups of mixed berries.  I like my pies to really taste like the fruit so I don't add much sugar to them.  I mixed a half cup of sugar and a teaspoon of powdered pectin together and added them to the pan.  I let the berries and sugar/pectin mixture cook down for about 15 minutes at a very low simmer.  They were pretty soupy even after I had poured off as much juice as possible.  After it had cooked down, I simply poured it in the pie crust and popped it in the oven.  Well, ok, I made a lattice top and brushed it with butter and sprinkled sugar on it, but you know what I mean...

We ate one of the berry tarts at home and took the pie and the deep dish tart over to the mother in law's house.  It was good!  I heard no complaints from the in laws but they are not a very effusive bunch.

So, the moral of this story is: pectin works in pies!

East Side of the Hawthorne Bridge

What the heck are those metal things at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge?  Is it a pair of sculptures?  Are they some fancy new signage?  This calls for a photo!  I'll get back to you with that...

Holiday eve

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and you know what that means.

The giant martini glass will be lit up on Friday!!!

It's a Portland tradition.  It's probably 20 feet tall, high up on the hill overlooking downtown PDX.

You know it's holiday time in Portland when the giant martini glass casts it's beneficent glow over us all.

Cheers!

Random Bike Stuff from the Streets of Portland

Bike Stuff

1.      Bike Commute Challenge

The Bike Commute Challenge took place during September here in Portland.  I didn’t manage a 100% biking rate this year, but I did pretty well.  I rode all but three days of the month.  I’ll have to be satisfied with that.

2.      12 people at the light this morning!  Didn’t all make it through the green!

The numbers are increasing.  There was actually a bicycle traffic jam at the intersection of Interstate and Oregon St, by the Rose Quarter.  Lots of people are riding to work and wearing real clothes, not bike gear.  

I like it! 

3.       Older Gal passing me up

Now, this is just funny.  On my ride to work, there is a street that has a gentle rise over the course of two blocks.  It’s a gentle rise but definitely noticeable.  I will either downshift or stand up and pedal.  So, I’m heading up the street one morning last week and behind me comes an older gal cruising along on her bicycle.  This, in itself, is not surprising.  People of all ages ride bikes, especially in Portland.  Nor is it surprising that she then passes me.  I get passed by people every day.  But, as she passes, I notice that she is both older and heavier than I am…  hmm… and, I’m in decent shape so how is she able to cruise right by?  Well, I don’t bother myself about it, but rather just keep on riding to work.  When I get to the bottom of the tram, I see that she is a couple of bikes ahead of me and we both ride up the hill.  After we disembark and walk through the building to the street, she hops on her bike, reaches down and clicks something.  The next thing I know there’s a gentle whirring sound and off she goes up the street.  It’s an electric assist bicycle!

4.       Need a bigger basket

As I mentioned before, I need to replace the basket on the front of Helen.  It got broken and bent in that crash.  And, it’s just too small.  I have been looking on line and at my local bike shops and I think I have one picked out.  BUT, I also have the collapsible rear basket on the right, which is where I put my backpack.  I asked my Pop if I could have the one off my mum’s bike to mount on the left side.  Then I will have three baskets and that’s enough cargo area for any trip to the store or the farmer’s market.  Ok, true, I usually walk to the store… but still!  And, just because Helen is such a beauty, I’m going to paint all the baskets brown to match her trim.  It’ll be a winter project.

September Update

Things keep happening, even if you don't read about them here.  Sorry about that!

So, that development on Burnside and 12th (do I need to add 'East side'? No.)  According to the sign posted on the chain link fence, it's going to be a senior residence.  A green one, apparently.  I think it might be affiliated with the church that owned (owns?) the parking lot that has become the property site.  We shall see!

That Lloyd Center parking lot remodel pissed me off.  The whole thing is to add storm water drainage and plantings and whatever...  and so the first thing they did was cut down the trees that were living in little islands in the midst of all that asphalt.  Fuckers.  Cut down trees in order to plant trees.  Don't people understand that trees are living things that have as much right to exist as we do?  I feel a rant coming on...

The Farmer's Markets have been fantastic this year.  I have lost count of how many jars of jam I have made so far this year.  Well over 100.  That makes me happy!  We also put up two dozen jars of pickles.  This year we did the hot brine to refrigerator method rather than the water bath method.  The pickles are fantastic!  We bought a small fridge for the basement and it is chock full.  But now, we are worried.  The pickles are so good that we'll surely run out before cucumber season comes back.  Might have to make another dozen jars...

I crashed on my bike last week.  It was on the East Bank Esplanade, where the switchback from the transit center, the East Bank bikeway and the Steel Bridge bikeway all come together.  Another gal and I got our signals crossed and ran into each other.  Then, a woman behind me crashed trying to avoid us.  It was a mess.  Fortunately, no one was badly hurt ~ including our bikes.  I took Helen in to the bike shop to be checked out and she is just fine.  Well, they said she's fine and I rode to work today but she definitely feels a little loose in the front end.  I'll be keeping an eye on her, that's for sure.  Wrecked my front basket, though.  I'll need to replace that.

The new bridge across the Willamette is coming along, and the University buildings beside it.  According to new releases, the first phase of the school buildings will open next fall.  The year after that the Dental School will take up residence there.  What will happen to the dental school building on the Hill?  Probably tear it down and build something bigger.  The bridge itself is slated to be completed in the fall of 2015.  It will serve light rail, pedestrians and bicycles.

The grass at Waterfront Park is being rehabbed.  Large chunks of the park are fenced off to get the grass back in shape.  We use this park a lot and the grass really takes a beating.  There's still the Race for the Cure coming up, but I think this year it will be down at the other end of the park, near River Place.  The geese are loving the new grass!

Well, that's it for now, gentle reader.  I'll try harder to stay up to date on the doings of pdx...

Lloyd Center follow up

Well, all I had to do was check the Lloyd Center website...

Seems that it will remain a parking lot, just a better parking lot.  Hmm.... a missed opportunity there, I think.
Here's what they say is happening:

The parking lot renovation happening in the Regal Cinema parking lot includes pedestrian connection, new landscaping, rain gardens and new and improved lighting.

At least there's new landscaping and rain gardens going in.  That's a good thing.

Lloyd Cinema stuff

What is happening in the Lloyd Cinema parking lot???

I DON'T KNOW!

There is construction fencing around almost the whole thing and giant equipment is digging up the pavement.  It looks very much like there is a large building planned for the space.  It's being dug up in the north-west corner of the lot (by the bus stop).

If they were smart, they would invest in a pay parking lot.  Tons of people park there to take the Max to work or to walk to their jobs in the Lloyd District.  Illegally park there, I might add.  I can be sanctimonious about it since I don't do it...  :-)  But, really, if you think about it, they can charge anywhere from $5 to $12 per day, and an attendant would only cost about $80 per day.  If they put in spaces for say, 300 cars, it would make money hand over fist.

Not sure what is going on, but believe me, I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

Odds and Ends

Hey There Folks!

I know, I know, nobody reading this malarkey anymore... that's what happens when you neglect the fan base.  Oh, wait, there never was a fan base.  Oh well.

So, every day while I am riding to work on my bike I think about things that would make a decent blog post.  As we can tell, that's as far as I ever get.  Today, however, I will throw a few things out there for your consideration.

• Waterfront Park  Busy!  The festival schedule is in full swing!  Last weekend was the Brewer's Fest and next weekend is The Bite.  It looks to me like they try to move the various festivals up and down the park to take the burden off the grass.  Sort of works.  Another thing, trash pick up.  Often after a big event there are park maintenance people out there supervising the homeless in trash pick up.  That's a good thing.  Trash gets picked up, the homeless earn some pocket money, it's a win/win.  And, let me tell you, there was so much trash left in the park on July 5th ~ I was shocked!  All gone by afternoon, though.
• Keeping it Weird  Ok, this could be filed under Waterfront Park, but I thought it needed it's own entry.  One morning as I was riding along the waterfront I saw some park officials quietly observing a sleeping man.  He was completely naked and sleeping on the narrow shelf of concrete on the other side of the sea-wall fence.  Does that make sense?  Ok, no, it doesn't make sense, what I'm really asking is, Can you picture what I'm saying?  Park, sidewalk, fence, narrow strip, VERTICAL DROP OF 20 FEET TO THE RIVER!  Yes, he was sleeping there!  I think they were afraid to wake him in case he fell.  Like I said... Keeping it weird.
• Construction Crane on the East Side You know that tricky intersection of Burnside, Sandy and 12th?  In what was once a parking lot a construction crane is raising up something big.  This is the lot that is between 12th and the restaurant called Old Wives Tale.  It was a parking lot for a church.  Not sure what's going in there, but apparently it will be tall.
• Jam Season Yes, it's jam season.  So far I've made raspberry, apricot, blueberry, tayberry, strawberry and peach.  Sour cherry is coming up this weekend.  I'm driving out to Yamhill tomorrow to pick up my pail of sour cherries.  Then, let the canning marathon begin!  
• Blackberries  Related to the above, I'm seeing blackberries growing all over.  Amazingly, there are none in my yard.  Well, not really amazing since my partner is in charge of the yard.  But, I have been thinking about taking a bucket out with me and picking blackberries for jam and maybe a pie.  Yum!
• Bike Commute I'm seeing more and more people commuting in regular clothes, and I have to say that it makes me happy.  I don't like the notion of bike commuting being some kind of elitist activity and all of the gear and clothing make it seem so.  I love to see regular people wearing their work clothes and just tooling along.  

Well, there's more no doubt, but that's all I can think of for the moment.  I'll try to be better about posting but... you've heard that one before!

Cheers!

Fun evening!

Tonight I am taking a canning class!

Last summer I found a great source for sour cherries and made gallons and gallons of sour cherry jam.  Zoe was in town and helped me with that and we had a fun, if steamy, time.  T and I put up 18 jars of pickles out of our garden.  In the past I have canned peaches and pears and sauces and jams of all sorts.  My mom and I used to make cherry plum jam every year and it was so good!  It's very satisfying to have all of those beautiful jars of jam all lined up in the pantry, very satisfying!

So, last summer I found a recipe for sour cherry jam on this site, Food In Jars. Marissa McClellan, the blogger and canner extraordinaire, is teaching the class.  She just published a cook book and is touring the country doing book signings and canning classes.  Oddly enough, though she lives in Pennsylvania now she is an Oregonian, specifically a Portlander!

We're going to be making strawberry lemon jam in the class.  I hope we get to take a jar home!

Climbing roses

I had the occasion to drive down SE 39th recently (excuse me, Cesar Chavez Blvd) and saw a lovely sight.  A large tree, might have been a magnolia, has light pink climbing roses growing way up through it's branches.  There are roses blooming 20 or 30 feet up in this tree!  So beautiful!

In my neighborhood, there is a red climbing rose growing up into a tree as well.  Not as high, but just as lovely.

Years ago I planted a native rose at the foot of our Chinese maple but it never climbed.  Probably didn't get enough sun, but also might not have been a climber.

One of these days I'll get a new phone with a good camera in it, and then I can have a show and tell...

New business, old location

Hi There, Blog Readers!  (or should I just say Z)

Big news round my particular 'hood: There's a comic store going in on NE Broadway!  I'm excited about that!  Where, where?  You all are clamoring to know!
It's in the building on the south side of the street, just before you turn to go to Freddy's, also known as NE 30th.  There was a photocopy/print shop there for a while, and something else, and something else before that, but it's been vacant for quite some time.  There is a nail salon in the other half of the building.

I'm really hoping that they have all the gay comics!

Keeping Portland as it should be...

Keep Portland Weird!

Yesterday, on Hawthorne and 43rd, one of my friends said, "Do you hear a bagpipe?"

Sure enough, here came an individual playing a bagpipe, wearing a kilt and a Darth Vader mask while riding a unicycle.

We applauded!

Occupy the Bus Stop

On Tuesday, at the bus stop, someone had posted three large flyers/posters (approximate size 18"x24").  They were glued to the glass of the bus shelter.  I can't recall seeing this method of posting flyers in Portland.  They are usually stapled onto utility poles.

The three posters were very artistic and well-designed.  All three are from the Occupy movement and you may have seen them around your neck of the woods.

• Poster 1: Rainbow starburst on one side with the text 'General Strike' in the middle.  The other side was black and white with a floral patterned background, and 3 mask faces above the words 'Occupy Jakarta'.  Something like this one:

• Poster 2: Colors of gold and brown on both sides.  One side said, 'Decolonize Wall Street' with a picture of a Native American.  The other side had a large leaf/flower/flame design.  There was more text on both sides, but mostly picture.  Kind of like these:

• Poster 3: The Occupied Wall Street Journal.  I didn't have time to read any of it, but I really like the message on the back side which said, 'The Revolution will not be branded but it will be beautiful.' I like the sentiment.  Here's what it looked like:

On the first two posters, the light shining through blended the images beautifully.  All three were very well-conceived and stylish.  I imagine that you have seen them around your own city or town or on the interwebs.

Today they had been torn down.  Probably not by Trimet, our transit authority, because the glass walls of the bus shelter had not been washed and the ragged remains of the posters were still there.  Whoever tore them down threw the paper on the ground.  What had been beautiful was now simply a mess.  A bigger mess than just leaving them on the bus shelter.  

What prompts a person to do that?  A sanctimonious feeling of righteousness?  Or did they disagree with the message?  I've seen plenty of people who have made it their mission to tear down posters on poles and they do have an air of outrage and smugness about them.  But the people I have seen doing that regard the posters as trash and they put them in a trash bag.  They don't throw them on the ground.  They see themselves as a litter patrol, working on urban beautification.  I realize that not everyone will have the same taste in art and design.  But, if you don't like it and you tear it down, don't throw it on the ground.  Put it in a trash can, you heathen, and don't make our beautiful city trashy.  

You know it wasn't part of the 1% out there eradicating all evidence of the Occupy Movement.  Some maladjusted, hostile, disenfranchised hater who doesn't have anything better to do than rip down posters...  that's just sad.

A couple more things

Yes, dear readers, I've thought of a couple more things to update regarding my perambulations around the Rose City.  I know you are waiting impatiently for updates, I can tell by all of the eager comments you leave...  wait, what's that you say?  You've never left a comment?  Hmm.  You probably don't send your grandmother thank you cards either.  That's all I'm saying (at this point).

But, to get down to bidness...

That Damned Hill

If you worked on that damned Hill, or if you still work upon it, you must remember the two enormous water tanks at the bend in the road, just past the lonely apartment building in the dell.  Yes, I thought so.  Do you remember what they look like?  Ok, obviously large and round, thanks genius!  They were tan with water stains and black mold and frankly they looked shitty.  Now, however, they blend right in to the environment since they have been painted a lovely dark green color.  A color that always make me think "Norwegian Wood", you know, the Beatles song.  In the dark of night, when I am leaving the Hill, you can't see them at all.  The pumping station between them is still tan and stained looking, though.

Hawthorne Bridge/Grand Avenue


If you've crossed the Hawthorne Bridge lately you've noticed the construction in both the east- and west-bound directions.  At the east end of the bridge, the City, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to take out the rather convenient and efficient traffic moving turn lanes.  So, picture this: as you are traveling east-bound over the bridge, and over the elevated street section, you descend to Grand Avenue.  If you were to head north, you would get in the left lane and swoop down in your own turn lane to merge onto Grand.  Well, not anymore.  There's a curb there now and you'll have to queue up with the cars traveling up Hawthorne in order to make your left turn.  Same thing in trying to get on to the bridge in the west-bound direction.  There was a designated turn lane from Grand onto the bridge approach.  These are both being taken out.  I can only surmise that it is because of the east-side streetcar -- even though the streetcar tracks are on the other side of Grand.  I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of the streetcar.  I love public transportation but that damned streetcar bugs me.  They are super slow, for one thing.  The one that traverses the Pearl?  Yeah, you can walk faster than that.  I've tried it.  They might get up a little more speed on streets with fewer pedestrians, but by and large more buses would be a better investment.

Well, that's it for now.  There's probably more going on, but I haven't been keeping good track of things.  I'll do better, really I will.  And so will you.  I know you are reading this drivel; I do check my stats, you know.  Go ahead and leave me a comment!

Oh!  One more thing!  Just got my hair done...  what do you think???

Back, I guess, and sorta ready...

Well, dear readers, what can I say?  I haven't been blogging (my great capacity for stating the obvious) but I have been noticing some things around my stomping grounds.

Here's the thing: my darling mumsey has cancer and is slowing fading away before our eyes.  It's beyond sad and I've cried a river over it.  I'm not going to add more about that, though, because this is not the venue for sad family stories.  Just know that I have been distracted and busy and not neglecting you intentionally.

BUT!  I do want to get a few little tidbits noted and then I'll try to fill things out later.  To that end, I'll have to resort to bullets.

• Occupy Portland!  Wow!  Have you seen all of those tents downtown?  How hilarious is it that they chose the park between the cop shop and courthouse?  I love it!  And, in true Portland fashion, when it looked like they were going to be in the way for the Portland Marathon, they moved.  And came right back.  We're civilized like that.
• In the same neighborhood, the Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building is finally looking like more than a steel skeleton.  There is some steel superstructure going up on the front and the south side is getting some skin.  I'll try to get some pictures.
• In my neighborhood, the Gulch, that derelict brick building on 21st that almost fell into the freeway is being rehabbed.  What?!  Who would put money into that?  I don't know, but they are shoring up the south facing foundation and building a new exterior wall.  Go figure.  Again, pictures would be helpful.
• The Slammer Tavern.  Someone has moved into the apartment above the tavern.  It's been vacant for as long as I can remember and always looked like hell, but now someone is living there.  I drive by on my way home from work and I can't help but stare as I'm stopped at the light (7th and Stark).  Weird, huh?
• South Waterfront and the New Bridge.  The south waterfront is a freaking nightmare.  I don't know why they can't do some of that work at night.  It is hellish down there!  But, watching the progress on the new bridge over the Willamette is interesting.  The new bridge will be just upstream from OMSI and cross over to the yet-to-be-built new complex of education high rises.  OHSU, PSU, and OSU are combining forces and funding and building a shared campus.  The bridge will be adjacent.  The bridge will be for light rail (a new Max line to SE -- yes, Milwaukie), bicycles, and pedestrians.  No cars!  The view from the Hill is pretty good and sometimes I'll pause on the 8th floor and watch the bridge stuff going on.

I feel like there were a couple more things I wanted to make note of, but I can't remember right now.  I'll try to get back here before too much time elapses and update you, but in the meantime, I NEED A CAMERA!  My phone takes the crappiest pictures and my little digital snappy broke so I'm in the market for something easy and cheap.

Oh, and if you were paying attention, I said that on my drive home... sad to say, I'm not riding my bike much right now.  For one thing, it's wet out.  Really wet.  But the bigger issue is that I am working a swing shift and I just don't feel good about riding home in the wet, cold, dark night.  I sure do miss Helen though.  Sigh. But, if we have a break in the weather, I'll be pedaling.

I guess that's all I've got for now.  

Sunset

I love the sideways slanting light of late afternoon, the way it illuminates and makes poignant all that it touches.  Here, on this hill, the light strikes the undersides of the branches of tall fir trees, making them shimmer with silver and gold and darkest green.

Sour Cherries

Is that anything like sour grapes?  NO!  Pretty much the opposite, in fact.

Sour cherries are the fruit that delicious cherry pies are made from.  Also the fruit that sour cherry jam is made from.  And all sorts of wonderful baked treats.  If you like cherry pie I can guarantee that you will like any pastry made with sour cherries.

And here's the big news: I found a source for sour cherries!  I have been searching, every spring, for several years for a local grower of sour cherries.  I couldn't find one!  I even tried the grower's cooperative in Hood River, for crying out loud.  Any growers that I found only sold to wholesalers.  But, hallelujah and pass the pastry, I've found one in Yamhill county!

Fruithill, Inc sells 4 gallon pails of sour pie cherries - with or without sugar - to the public.  I contacted them yesterday and had my name added to the database of customers so that I will get an alert when the cherries are ready.  Then it's just a pleasant drive to the country with money in hand and I'll be returning home with some future baked deliciousness.

Of course, you know what this means.  I'll have to buy a freezer.  And, even more important, I'll have to start baking.  You might want to show up around my house when that happens.

So. Damned. Excited!

Summer

Just in case you're following along, it's summer in the Pacific Northwest.  What does that mean?


The high today is expected to be in the mid-60's.


I'm still wearing corduroy --  comfortably.  And a sweater.