Day 114: Portlandia

Many people are familiar with the TV show "Portlandia", but the name was not made up for TV. In fact, this giant statue (which is several stories tall - her hand is the size of a person!) is the original PORTLANDIA. The statue sits a couple stories above street level on the Portland building downtown and is the second largest copper statue in the United States (the first being the Statue of Liberty).  She is quite impressive!

Here is a fond farewell to 2012. It has been great, but I welcome 2013 with open arms!

Day 113: Arches

This "wall of arches" is located near the waterfront in southwest Portland. In the summer, the weekend market is held in this area, but on this winter day the area was pretty empty.

Day 112: A cold time to be homeless

As the weather turns colder, I feel worse for those without homes. This man has a coat and what appears to be several blankets, but I'm sure nights are still difficult.

Day 111: Keep Portland Weird

I'm not sure which came first ... "Keep Austin Weird" or "Keep Portland Weird". In any case, you hear this saying a lot and it related to keeping small local businesses in the community rather than replacing them with national chains.  I think Portland does a great job of that.... and we're definitely weird!  (In a good way!)

Day 110: Another Sweet Rose

 

I find the public art in this city really fun. Here is a sweet simple rose attached to the side of this electric box - makes it look so much nicer, I think.

Day 109: Winter Themed Window

Brooks Brothers got into the winter theme in their window display - might be the only snow we see this year.....

Day 108: A TALL order Christmas Tree!

The AMAZING! Christmas Tree downtown in Pioneer Courthouse Square this year is a 75-foot tall Douglas Fir, which was gifted to the city by Stimson Lumber company - a sustainable lumber company.  Did you know that a large percentage of Christmas Trees sold all around the United States are grown in Oregon?!?

Day 107: Vintage Santa

In case you still haven't finished your Christmas shopping, this vintage display in an antique store downtown offers some holiday gift suggestions.

Day 106: O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

How lovely are they branches! These beautiful, large, LED lights decorate the branches of the Christmas Tree in downtown Portland in Pioneer square. According to the city, the 14,000 (!!) LED lights that adorn the tree use 91% less energy and last 50% longer than traditional Christmas lights. Portland, the environmentalist!

Day 105: Portland General Electric

Even the utility covers on the side walk remind you that Portland is "Rose City".

Day 104: Bikes on the Train

 All of Portland's city buses and trains are equipt for the many bikers in the city. Here a bike hangs from a bike hook in one of the trimet trains - every car has several of these hooks. There is another bike hanging across from this one and the man on the far left also has a bike in hand.

Day 103: Shelter

I am not positive that this is someone's home. But, there are many tents/structures like this around Portland - most of which house homeless people. At least this one offers fairly decent shelter from the rain.. though it doesn't look very warm.

Day 102: Get Your Head Out of the Tree!

Found this piece of "art" while walking in southeast Portland today. There were other "sculptures" nearby, but this was the most striking to me.  You just never know what you'll find on the streets of Portland!

Day 101: a Chilly Gnome

Woke to a blanket of white this morning. This little guy looks like he may be a bit chilly....and yet, he never stops doing his job

Day 100: Chillin' by the tree

This cat knows how to relax!

Day 99:Beware of lighted alligator

We had a fun night at the Portland Zoo's "Zoo Lights" tonight, despite the rain. this guy was one of my favorites - his mouth opened and closed.

Day 98: SNOW!

We had our first snow in Portland. It didn't stick to the ground (though it did stick a little to the metal mailbox and car). It was fun to watch from inside as the huge snowflakes drifted to the ground! Winter is officially here!

Day 97: Sea the Gull?

There are often seagulls perched on these street lights near the river. The coast is about an hour's drive from here, but still, they enjoy hanging out in Portland.

Day 96: Evolutionarily Speaking...

Fabulous bumper sticker seen on the road.

Day 95: Nativities from around the world

Medical Teams International is a non-profit, faith based international aid organization that is based out of Portland.  They send volunteer teams of medical workers to aid in disaster relief efforts and short term teams to help with ongoing projects around the world. Today I visited their Portland headquarters and they had a wall filled with beautiful creche scenes from around the world. There were many more than are pictured here, but this gives a taste of the beauty and variety.

Day 94: Sad Sign

Another embellished sign. Don't worry - we didn't enter....

Day 93: Happy Sign......

Sign embellishment seems to be a popular activity around Portland - I have seen several.

Day 92: Portland Revels

The Portland Christmas Revels is an annual show in Portland and one very popular with Portlanders.  Each year the show features a different country/culture and shares Christmas songs, dance and tradition from that place. This year the theme was Appalatian Christmas. It was an evening full of great music, including audience sing-along, fun dance and Christmas cheer! Can't wait to see what they will do next year!

Day 91: Cat in the Box

Some cats prefer hats. Mine prefers boxes...

Day 90: Cuttin' some Cookies

Fun party tonight with a "make your own" gingerbread station. Lots of fun cookie cutters to choose from....and then yummy cookies to eat!

Day 89: Standing Guard in the Stairwell

I love this!  On my way up the many flights of stairs at Portland State University tonight, I found this little guy strategically placed in the stairwell. What fun.

Day 88: the Cannabis question

So today, in Washington State (and Colorado), marijuana became legal for recreational use.  This was passed with the last election - by the voters.  A similar measure did not pass in Oregon - though, as you can see from this photo, cannabis is legal for medical purposes in Oregon. Some say the measure didn't pass here because the farming and sales of cannabis, as outlined in the Oregon proposition, were slightly less regulated (or at least worded that way) than the proposition in Washington.In any case, it is an interesting question with strong opinions on both sides and hot debate. No doubt this issue will continue to surface at future elections.

Day 87: Sake island

One more photo from fall in the Japanese garden. This one focusing more on the artistry and less on the fall colors.  In this part of the rock garden, the islands of earth are meant to be a sake bottle and cup.

Day 86: lights lights everywhere

This house in my neighborhood always has "interesting" yard decorations. A doll arm protruding from a flowerpot etc... Recently, this collage of lights appeared filling their yard with a chaotic light display. Interesting is really all I can say.

Day 85: morning clounds

When leaving home this morning, there were some faint remains of the sunrise just above the clouds hovering low int he trees. I took this photo from a hill in west Portland. It looked a bit mystical to me.

Day 84: Portland Recycles- a song

This photo is from a recent talent show I attended. These two hilarious ladies wrote an original song about how Portland recycles and composts. The costumes were fabulous, the song was funny and I felt this was such a "Portland" experience!