Landscapes

Sellwood Park, that one with enormous Douglas firs
I call this place the grove of giants.
The building, which I am pretty sure is or was a concession stand, looks like it has a new forest growing on its moss.
This shot is taken looking north toward the Oaks Bottom Refuge, over which the park sits. I took this with a GoPro.

I live a short walk from beautiful Sellwood Park. It has a grove of Douglas firs that stand like large creatures, towering over picnic tables, a mowed law, and a concession stand that is slowly going ot seed. It’s a real nice place, right above the Willamette River. I cannot wait to go swimming here at the pool here, outdoors, on a hot day. In fact I dream of doing laps in an outdoor pool.

Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.

Manzanita, Oregon
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.

Manzanita is a lovely beach community in the Northwest corner of the Oregon, and just south of the more famous Canon Beach. I have come here many times over the decades and still love it. Here are some shots in the first half of November. I plan to go back again soon.

Portland scenes, trail to hilltop mansion
A view of Mt. Hood taken from the Pittock Mansion in Portland.
This is the lower MacLeay Trail, a popular hiking and running trail in Portland.

There is a wonderful hike you can take from the MacLeay Trail, to the Wildwood Trail, and then to the Pittock Mansion, which rests high above the city and has a commanding view of Mt. Hood in the distance. I snapped these shots on my first trip to the mansion this week on a clear and cold day, and I was rewarded with excellent views. (Click on each photo to see a larger photo on a separate picture page.)

Temecula, Calif., a suburb in the desert

I visited Temecula in September and enjoyed myself. I could not imagine living here, but people love all that sun. It is a brutally hot place, and yet even amid the worst drought ever, lawns are green and everything looks like the Midwest, if you ignore the thermometer and the rock and scrub mountains that surround it. Probaby a few Beaver and Wally Cleavers live here. You cannot survive here or function without a car. Period.

Portland’s industrial landscapes
This shot was taken just below Portland’s Fremont Bridge, in Northeast Portland.
Fuel storage and trucks line the Willamette River in Northwest Portland.

Portland seems to be associated with Nike, Portlandia, Intel, and hipsters in the national imagination. But for those of us who live here, the city itself tells a story of international shipping, truck manufacturing, rail traffic, shipbuilding, and other heavy industries. And still, this Portland never seems to make a blip on the national consciousness. Well, here are a couple of pictures of the Portland I see every day.

Fall colors in and around Concordia University
I took a picture of these maple leaves in Portland’s Concordia neighborhood.
Luther Hall at Concordia University
Fall colors illuminate Concordia University’s Luther Hall.

I discovered the neighborhoods and campus of Concordia University, a Lutheran university in Northeast Portland where a friend of mine is on the faculty. This is part of my larger project to visit and document all of the neighborhoods and landmarks and flavors of Portland. The school is a little over 100 years old and still has some of the older buildings standing, covered in ivy. Fall colors were spectacular on and around the campus. The surrounding area is also called Concordia. I very much enjoyed this part of town, which historically has been associated with a lot of crime and drug traffic. Now houses start at $300,000 and up.

A day at the bridges, Portland style
A shot of underside of St. John’s Bridge, on the east side of the Willamette River.
A shot of the 1931 St. John’s Bridge from the east bank of the Willamette River.
The Fremont Bridge carries only car and truck traffic on Interstate 5, north of downtown Portland.

Portland, Ore., has been dubbed many things, including bridge town. Here are two of the most distinct ones: St John’s Bridge (1931) and the Fremont Bridge (1973). The former dates from the Depression, when public works projects had a sense of artistry. The latter was built to serve one purpose–carry cars over Willamette River on Interstate 405 as efficiently as possible. More bridges are to come. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Swan Island Shipyards, Portland
This photo is taken from the campus of the University of Portland, looking south.
The Swan Island Shipyard has dominated the city’s port since World War II, when it was a bustling hub for war related ship building.

Most of Portland, Ore’s heavy industry is located on the banks of the Wilamette River. The Swan Island Shipyard is one biggest areas dedicated to what are still high-paying, blue collar jobs. I took these pictures from the bluff overlooking the yards southward, from the campus of the University of Portland. The shipyard has a storied history dating to World War II, when Kaiser was in the business of building ships, not running a health insurance monopoly. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Cement kiln, southeast Portland
Shot in October 2014.

The Lehigh Northwest Cement Co. is located near the large railroad yard in the industrial area of southeast Portland. I always have liked living near railroad yards. They are reminders of what keeps our country’s economic engine moving, and cement producers are always likely neighbors. To me they are strong icons of our industrial economy and fall into the category of photography I embrace focussing on industrial typologies. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Impressions of southern California
Shot with a GoPro
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

I love traveling to places I know nothing about, in my own country or overseas. What you see is all new, particularly if you have no firm pre-set notions or biases. I spent a few days in San Diego and Riverside counties, specifically in Temecula (home to Native Americans for about 10,000 years), about 60 miles northeast of San Diego and the same distance southeast of greater Los Angeles. It is now a bedroom community, in the middle of the coastal ranges that once were dry and mostly arid spaces and are now home to freeways, Indian gaming casinos, agriculture businesses, shopping centers, miles of car-oriented subdivisions, strip malls, and also beautiful mountains and natural spaces. I was struck by how utterly and completely dependent the entire local economy and the built environment are to cheaply priced energy, notably petroleum.

The beaches of north San Diego County dazzled me. Numerous historic and scientific landmarks also impressed me, particularly the San Luis Rey Mission and the Palomar Observatory. I also was able to get in some hikes in Palomar State Park and the Santa Rosa Plateau. All provided excellent opportunities to enjoy the high desert mountain ecosystems. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)