Aside from the fact the raspberries are producing already, I also found a few volunteer potatoes in the compost pile. They were all delicious!
My walk to work
Since January 25, my first day at work, I’ve been pretty darn good about getting off at the Rose Quarter and walking over the Steel Bridge. I think I’ve not done it fewer than five times. One challenge I have with taking the same walk over and over is that things can feel stale. So I try to look for small changes as I walk.
Here is my approach to the bridge. I have a picture of this from 2007 covered in wildflowers. Alas, it’s reverted to grass. She’s a persistent one, that grass. For a two-week period earlier in the year this was covered in Canada geese chomping away. But they moved to another part of their life cycle after some point and the rain eventually washed all their poop off the sidewalk.
I believe this random post used to have more than a No Parking sign on it. But who knows what it was? Regardless, the end of the horizontal post is open and for a period of time (I assume it was nesting time) I would usually see a sparrow perching at the edge of the opening and chirping away.
My first view of downtown
A way to measure peak moss. We have moved through Peak Moss Month (this year: March) and the moss has started to recede. 
My next view of downtown.
This grain silo operation is continually fascinating to me. Sometimes the ships are *poof* suddenly there. And then they sit for a week or more. Why do they sit so long? And why do I mostly never see any sailors on the ships? I once came across the ship being filled, which was quite fun to watch. 
Today we have a barge. I always like barges, probably because I learned the song “Barges” at Girl Scout camp. 
Work is being done on the Steel Bridge. Can you spot the workers?
Another game I’ve been playing is to see when all the slips are filled with boats. At first there were just two, but they’ve been slowly arriving as we have so much nice weather. Also, I really like that condominium complex. Though it’s more geometric than I would choose to build, I think it’s aged well and looks great against the river and the city.
It took several weeks for me to notice that the black sign lights up with the words “stopped vehicles ahead”. And then several more weeks to figure out what triggers it. The train is the trigger. When the Green and Yellow lines make the hard turn to the right at the base of the bridge all traffic must stop, so the sign illuminates.
The beach where a lot of dogs play. I don’t think that beach was there earlier in the year, so I will watch the water level change.
Over the tracks. I often think of Jan when I walk this part, as she lived in for some time in an apartment that is just out of view.
These three semi trucks are parked behind the abandoned fire station house I would like to renovate.
As you can see, homeless people have taken to living in them.
It is easy to get around this fence.
I am quite pleased with the renovation of this building. It sat empty for many of my years living in Portland. There seems to be a gym in the basement. I enjoy wondering if today will be the day I look up to see what gym it is.
The red brick building is the old Blanchet House. When the new Blanchet House was built on the opposite corner of the block, the billboard space became less desirable. So this billboard is slowly being peeled away by the elements. It’s also exposing its signage precursor.
At this point, my camera battery died, so you will have to wait to see other highlights from my walk to work.
From _Eligible_ by Curtis Sittenfeld
When they left the bar, before parting ways in Port Authority, they stood on the corner of Forty-second Street and Seventh Avenue and continued talking; there were between them always an infinite number of subjects to be addressed and dissected, mulled over and mocked and revised.
Dirt bath
One of my main motivators for building the catio is that Antares likes the occasional dirt bath. Before he had access to the dirt on the concrete on the catio, he used to roll in his litter box, which just made me feel like a bad cat owner. Now we’re both happy.
Postcard from Germany, May 2016
From Gerd who lives near Stuttgart. It was 15 degrees Celsius when he wrote.
Three sentence movie reviews: Diary of a Teenage Girl
I loved the design of this movie, how the animations would sometimes take over the movie itself. I also thought it accurately captured a lot of the feelings and emotions that occur when young women become sexually active* (though thankfully, most of us aren’t sleeping with our mother’s boyfriends). There is a general out-of-control feeling, which is uncomfortable, but the total package is a winner.**
Where watched: at home
Cost: free from Netflix
*This is so rare to see on film!
**And I can’t wait to see more of Bel Powley. I’ll start with that Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret movie.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/diary_of_a_teenage_girl_ver2.html
We become Cosmic Tripsters
Thank goodness we finished at the Kennedy School because they ring the old school bell when you do! (Sorry about the blurry pictures. They were due to low light and the general excitement of the moment.)
Filling out or certificates. We each get three nights for two (a total of six nights!) at any McMenamins property! Plus we each get a pair (a total of four) of concert tickets!
Posing with our t-shirts, completed passports (which give us happy hour drink prices Sunday through Thursday for a year) and our certificates.
There were also pint glasses, pins and key chains.
Our last stops on the quest
We’re back on the highway for our final page of stamps on the quest. It seems our last page will mostly be a strip mall McMenamins experience. In our haste to finish, I neglected to take pictures of most of our stops.
Matt’s final stamp came at the Highland Pub. He claimed his pint glass prize.
Mine came from the not-at-all-romantically named Mall 205 Pub. I show off my pint glass. 
It is ironic that our final prize said “On the quest to be a Cosmic Tripster.” Because, you know, we’re done with that quest. If we were the type of people to drop mics, the mic would be dropped right here.
Hardy kiwi flowering!
I can’t remember when I planted the hardy kiwi, but perhaps fall of 2009 or spring of 2010. As I mentioned in this post, I was hoping for some kiwi, but mostly wanted green growth on the pergola. I’ve gotten what I mostly wanted, for sure. The kiwi looks great on the pergola and I love the way the front porch looks in general.
This is the first year I’ve seen it flower! Both female plants put out a few flowers. The male plant (the one in the middle) produced nothing. So I’m guessing pollination is a no-go until that happens, if ever.
In looking at the photos from 2009, I’m surprised at how much the flowering plum tree has grown. The porch was always shaded for most of the day, but now it’s shaded for much more of the day, which doesn’t bode well for kiwi production, even hardy kiwi production that doesn’t need as much sun. Oh well. The greenery is great!
Postcard from Montana
From my friend Sue, who makes amazing ceramics and has a delightful horse named Mabel. If you are around Livingston, Montana and it’s the day of the Kentucky Derby, you should stop by for Sue’s Spring Sale. Afterward, you can soak in the hot springs nearby.