Winter Wonderland

So, here in Portland, there is a place where everyone decorates their houses for Christmas. It's the mini-version of Chicago's Sauganash area. One full street that looks like you opened the door to some fantasyland. Horse drawn carriages go down the long street and you can buy hot chocolate at a stand. It's cute! Below are a few pictures...albeit a bit dark, of the lovely Peacock Lane. This link will take you to a site of slightly better pictures. As in most things, Portland's "christmas-y area" doesn't quite live up to the overdone lights in Chicago, but then, maybe this green city is onto something--- not making the electric companys rich!
http://peacocklane.net/pictures.html

Winter in the West

OK, I miss Atlanta! Well, I miss the weather :-). Although we had our ice storms in Atlanta, winter was pretty mild. I'm somewhat surprised by the impact of winter here in Portland. At the moment I am looking at maybe 1" of snow (with a layer of ice underneath) and the city is shutting down. They are apparently pouring gravel on the main roads for traction, but schools and events are closing left and right. We had Chicago sized winds today as well. It's just cold! Everyone here tells of the storm about 2 years ago where people couldn't leave their homes for a week! Buy some snowplows, people!!

The other recent wintry event was the new experience of buying chains for my tires. For a lovely New Year's Eve, I made plans to go to a local getaway with vegetarian food, hot springs, yoga and general R and R. After making reservations, I was informed that I should (and in Oregon it's the law from October-April) have chains in my car! The mountains here get pretty snowy and, again, no plows. So, this midwest city gal may have to pull to the side of the road to put chains on the Civic. THAT's why everyone here drives a Subaru!!

I hope to have more photos soon of snow, ice, mountains and all things west coast and wintry.
And, if you are reading this in December...HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

The End of an Era

Well, today I discovered that my Georgia Tech email expired...AND, I had ignored a statement alerting me to the expiration of www.accessiblethreads.com. WOW. Don't go to this link. It doesn't link to anything. I can't believe it! I guess it's real. I have a job, I work in a great company, they pay me a salary, benefits and I work with great people everyday. Just as quickly and, unfortunately, quietly, as Accessible Threads arrived...it has consequently dissapeared. I am no longer in grad school, no longer the principal of my own company, I am a cog in a wheel, but so far, I actually like it that way.

This cog has been afforded new experiences in corporate America, experiences for networking and sanity. Experiences for having a real weekend and enough income to perhaps buy my first home. I don't think this new step would be as interesting had I not experienced doing it all on my own, being chief cook and bottle washer as well as accountant, adminstrator, graphic artist and prototyper. It taught me a lot, about me, about business and about what I want next. It's much easier to work for a large company having pushed my personal envelope by doing it my way for awhile. Right now, someone else's way, albeit a way I am allowed to challenge and drive as I see fit, works just fine for me. I get to walk away each evening not worrying where the next client is coming from and go in each morning and work with an extremely talented group of people. Not to trash Kirby at all, but he's not the most conversational work partner :-).

So, I felt the need to acknowledge this passing here, in this online space. Perhaps any google search for Accessible Threads will land someone here, where they will find it's epitaph. May you all find a few interesting forks in your road as you travel through life.

Seattle-Tacoma

The Glass Museum in Tacoma Washington Chihuly on the Bridge in Tacoma
I had my first official business trip for Intel this week, which took me up to Seattle! This is my third or fourth visit, but it's always interesting, beautiful and greeeen! The weekend included
visiting friends as well as a visit to Little Mt. Si, Discovery Park and a glass museum in Tacoma Washington, home of the infamous Dale Chihuly. Although the museum itself didn't have any Chihuly inside, there are several public sculptures which include his work. There is a bridge with a ceiling of glass pieces and a huge wall set up like an old curiousity box full of oversized glass pieces. It's very impressive and even more impressive that it hasn't been vandalized! As you drive in, these blue blobs (which are plastic, not glass, are on an overpass with the wall of glass above.

Hood River

An old (well, she's not old...but we've known each other a long time!) friend came to visit in September. My first real visitor! We had a whirlwind weekend exploring the Hood River area and surrounding farms, referred to locally as "the fruit loop." We bought many types of pears locally grown, and sunflowers and delicious Marionberry wine! It was a gorgeous weekend.

We traveled out to Multnomah and other falls and ended the day at a moonlight ceremony in the Japanese Tea Garden. We saw the full moon rise over the mountains. What an amazing sight. Flutes were playing in the background and the moon just scooted up and over the mountain. We ate yummy moon dumplings and drank sake! Since this was a night time event I don't have any good pictures, but suffice it to say it was a really special evening. http://www.japanesegarden.com/ to see a bit about this beautiful space. Below is the bridge at Multnomah Falls--you can walk across and look at this amazing sight!

And still more hiking...

Well, it was a quiet weekend overall...which leads me to more hiking! My roommate, Lindsay, and I, hit Forest Park, a great place within the city limits with beautiful hikes. One path led us to a road in the city, some pics from there are here as well. Great views of the city from the mountains.


View of Portland from above and me! decked out for hiking.














Sunset over Portland and Lindsay mid hike.














The second set of photos is from a longer hike I took Sunday in Eagle Creek. The trail followed the creek and there were many waterfalls along the way. Thanks for indulging my love of
pictures of green spaces.






















Old downed tree on the left, and Lowitt? falls on the right. I love the big bowl it falls into. This
picture was taken from a narrow ledge just across the way. As you know, i'm not exactly
religious, but someone left this book of Psalms on a rock,and I just thought it was cool. No matter what you believe, the woods are a pretty awe inspiring place.

Jazz Fest

Well, one thing you learn in Portland after growing up in Chicago, is that everything is mini and down-sized. Folks here talk about crowds. Let me tell you, they have NOT been at the Taste of Chicago at 10pm on July 3rd. The fests here are quaint. Some are busier than others.

I'm sharing a few pictures of Jazz Fest which, supposedly, was once a big thing here. Now it's free, less people come. Go figure. Saw a wonderful performer Annette Lowman. (see left)

The funniest part of jazz fest included a performance in my new favorite venue (ok, not really) "Jazzy Bagels. We stood behind the group much of the time. Very odd to be able to buy bagels and hear live jazz in the same fast food type venue. VERY odd. But, the music was good, and it was a respite from the hot sun. Pics below. Really, they are set up right next to the Coke machine! We tried to time getting our ice with the beat. Not sure how successful that was...

Portland Dictionary

Today's installment will enlighten you to the oddities of Portland grammar. As many of you know, Atlanta is graced with a street named Ponce de Leon, whose pronunciation is annihilated by Georgians.

Portland has a much simpler street, "Couch." Not too hard, right? Well, apparently the folks in Portland who thrive on being different decided to pronounce it "kooch". Go figure.

There is a wonderful word I heard 3 times in one day. "Spendy." Spendy implies that an item is expensive, a luxury.

Mc Menamin's is not necessarily a new word, but here, it's synonymous with these wonderful restaurants. They are all in old converted buildings: schools, a poor farm, etc. They all have these wonderful murals throughout. Some have a movie theater where you can eat, drink and be merry while watching your favorite flick.

Those are all I can think of for now...more to come.

Yes, there are people in Portland

Well, I realized that my blog so far only has pictures of nature. However wonderful nature is, I've met some really great people out here too. I convinced my friend Tom to join me on a trip to the coast today. It was about 90 in Portland and around 75 on the coast. The water is still bone-chillingly cold, but so beautiful. There was a bit of fog floating around, making for cool photography. A great day overall. We ate, drank, relaxed and enjoyed relaxing seaside with no loud radios, or obnoxious people. It's a really quiet and civilized beach experience.







Tom (left), Me (right)


I don't know these folks, but they got married on the beach today, and it just looked so beautiful! (below)

Wandering west

Well, it figures, the one day I forget my camera, and there are some amazing views. I went to a meeting south of where I live in the farmlands and had some amazing scenery on the drive. I also learned all about the vast amount of agriculture here. It seems that you get a break on the price of your home if you have a farm and raise/grow things. Within 30 minutes of my house there are fields of blueberries, strawberries, marionberries, LAVENDER!, and farms with Buffalo, Alpaca, cows, sheep, horses and who knows what else. I got to cut my own lavender and could have picked my own berries, but alas, was wearing a white shirt and don't trust myself. I'll have to return and get some pics.

The photos I do have are from a not too exciting hike on Lake Hagg. The trails were full of scratchy things and since it was 90 degrees on Sunday, everyone was at the lake grilling and making noise. The trail was also hard to follow. I enjoyed reading in the shade more than hiking that day! Too hot. The picture of the farm, if you look VERY closely, has the outline of Mt. Hood behind it. Cool.

Can you see Mt. Hood behind the barn?!

Does anyone know what these furry weed/herbs are?

Columbia Gorge-ous!

View from the top!
Trees at and mist at Angel's Rest
Wahclella Falls
Stones in the River
(below) Angel's Rest as seen from a viewing tower

Well, you have to indulge me posting quite a few pictures this week! On Sunday, I headed to Columbia Gorge, a beautiful spot 30 minutes east of Portland with tons of hiking trails. At the suggestion of Steve, my tourguide, I hiked Wahclella falls, an easy 1 mile hike to an amazing cascade of water known as the falls! It was again...incredibly green and lush. I even stopped for a picnic lunch by the river nearby to read and eat for awhile.

After this short jaunt, I decided to hit the second suggested stop. However, I had read too many guidebooks and got confused! I intended to do another short hike full of waterfalls, but ended up doing a 4 mile round trip hike up a very steep mountain! The view was amazing (the bottom picture is actually of the mountain from a roadside viewpoint.) I was almost hiking in the clouds as they wafted in and out that day. It was drizzly but it felt good! My knees may not forgive me any time soon, but it was a great hike.

The coast

Wow. This place just keeps getting better! At the recommendation of a friend and the potential to see puffins, I headed to the coast Sunday. The Oregon coast is gorgeous. It was a picture perfect day. I got there too late to see many puffins, though we saw a few in flight. Apparently, they nap in the afternoon! I did see a Kormorant nesting in the rock through a seriously high-powered scope. No photos...

Cannon Beach

The beaches are amazingly clean and quiet. No blaring radios, no food vendors, just people and dogs (hearty people who apparently think 65-70 degrees is beach weather). The coldest 4th I've spent on the beach, but possibly the most picturesque! The big rock you see is called haystack rock and was created by a lava flow 17 million? years ago. There are 'fingers' of rock along the coast from this event, this is the biggest one on the coast and it houses many gulls and migrating birds.

For the record, these photos are barely retouched, if at all. The colors of the sky were just amazing that day.

Manzanita from the road

Exploring the tidal pools

Haystack rock at sunset

City and country

These pictures are mostly from the woods, about 30 minutes west of where I live. The ground and trees are so very lush. Deep emerald greens, lots of little streams and tall, beautiful pines and birch trees with ferns covering the ground. I took an after work hike so didn't go too far, but enjoyed the scenery just the same.


Friday night, I attended the Portland Blues Fest on the riverfront. We heard Chicago legend Buddy Guy!! The crowds at any event are eternally mellow. We are convinced Buddy didn't come on for an encore because the crowd wasn't rowdy enough! It was crowded, but manageable. This picture was from the Zydeco stage on the opposite side. I may try to get to the coast for a "puffin watch" tomorrow, stay tuned!

Explosive fun

The mountains of the northwest are indescribable! I trekked to Mt. St. Helen's today to meet some friends and then go off on my own to hike and see the real volcano. First note to self: If I stay in the NW, I definitely need a car with pick-up to get through these mountains!

Nevertheless, the drive just got more amazing as I headed east. Suddenly, towns, homes and stores, even gas stations drop off and you are completely in the wilderness surrounded by mountains. 504 ends right in the parking lot of the Mt. St. Helen's visitor center. About 1/2 way there on the highway you see it, looming large over all the other mountains and constantly attracting a ring of clouds near the peak. There is still snow, but the skies were blue and I took a million pictures, just a few are here.

The area right near Mt. St. Helen's was obviously largely devastated in 1980. They have left it to regrow and there is a graveyard of stumps among the new wildflowers popping up. Weyerhauser spent millions re-foresting other land nearby. It's all pretty amazing. The photos don't begin to do it justice, but it's still fun to share! (Top left is the foot of Mt. St. Helen's)