Oswald West State Park is a popular surfing beach in northwest Oregon, south of the more upscale and popular Canon Beach. You will need a wet suit, as we are talking water that is always less than 60 F. The day I visited (Nov. 9, 2014), I saw a lot of novices and not a single clean ride. The ocean was choppy and the surf erratic. No one seemed to mind. Everyone was enjoying the vibe. You can see a bigger version of the video here.
Portland, like many cities, has a lot of parks. Seen here are Grant Park and Mt. Scott Park. Portland’s parks have this almost eerie quality with Douglas firs and ultra green grass, manicured by Parks and Recreation Department staff. It is as if some great omnipotent being wanted to make a cross between an English garden and a Pacific Northwest forest, and plop it in a city. That is what they feel like to me. I like them. So do residents, who approved a big bond levy on Nov. 4 to pay for improvements. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)
It was a foggy, cool, and beautiful day (Friday, Nov. 7), here in the Northwest. The colors on the oaks and maples have been spectacular, and I brought my GoPro camera on a trip to and from the swimming pool. I took these along the way, through the Woodstock, Mt. Scott, and Eastmoreland neighborhoods. I’m a sucker for color and foilage every time. What is not to like about nature doing its natural thing? (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)
In northwest Portland, on NW Vaughn Street and NW 23rd Street, the Vespa dealership partnered with mural artist Larry Kangas to create a 10-feet high and 65-feet long mural that celebrates neighborhoods and the Vespa’s connection to Italy. It is known mostly as the Vespa mural. I love murals. They transform urban spaces into a living shared meeting place. You cannot miss this mural if you take Interstate 405 to the west side of the Willamette and exit at Vaughn Street. And there it is. I suggest parking your car, grabbing a coffee, and taking a closer look. (Click on each photograph to see a larger photograph.)
It is not a happy day given the elections that saw virtually unchecked amounts of unregulated and mostly corporate cash sway electoral outcomes in my country. So, I have decided to publish some peaceful pictures of a peaceful place, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, in the now up-and-coming area north of Chinatown, practically underneath Interstate 405. I have seen this church for decades and was amazed it had not been torn down and converted to, oh, say a parking lot or bland building. Finally, I decided to pay a visit to the church two weeks ago. It looks like it barely clung to life as the interstate highway juggernaut ripped apart neighborhoods across the country, including in Portland–roads that i use daily, I might add. Dating from 1889, St. Patrick is the oldest Catholic church in Portland. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)
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.
I began noticing water towers a lot after I discovered the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, masters of photographing typologies and industrial forms. Water towers are one of the most ubiquitous structures one sees in a city. They are not toxic, or dangerous, or even ugly. They primarily serve as temporary water storage tanks for water suppliers and departments during specific times of the day and help to address peak demand needs at hours when residents bath, flush, and use water. I noticed these towers on a bike ride through Northeast Portland this month (October). Many communities choose to paint them and brand them with the names of the city or a local football team, and it is almost always football teams. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)
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.)
I passed by this storage yard several times on my bike, along Highway 30, which is the main arterial serving the many industries that line the Willamette River in north Portland. Barrels are normally used for storing and transporting chemicals, but I had no idea what these were used for. I found similar barrel yards in Seattle along the industrial Duwamish waterway, in Seattle. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)
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.)
What Beautiful Light 