Portland

Rueda flash mob hits downtown Portland, dancing ensues

Rueda de casino is a hypnotically cool dance from Cuba that uses Cuban partner dance patterns called casino to traditional Cuban rhythms that today we know mostly as “salsa,” with dancers moving around a circle and changing partners. You can dance to salsa, traditional older Cuban dance music, and even reggaetone. Fun beyond description, really. Today this is literally a global dance phenomenon, like so many dances that have originated in Latin America.

A great group of Portland-based rueda enthusiasts and instructors, who band under the name Portland Casino Fridays, organized a series of rueda flash mobs at Director Park and then a bit later (after we got kicked out) at the park strip near the Portland Art Museum on Saturday, March 28. Bet you did not know there is such as thing as Rueda de Casino Internationl Multi-Flashmob Day. Well I did not until I joined the fun.

If you have not tried rueda, look it up in your city and give yourself some time to pick up the moves. There are hundreds if not thousands of instructional videos on YouTube now. Oye, baila!

On a Sunday morning sidewalk

While strolling through downtown Portland this Sunday, March 22, I pulled out my GoPro and snapped a few photos of some of the lovely old stone churches. There are quite a few, and they give downtown a stately charm. Seen here are the exterior and front of the First Baptist Church, which dates from 1894, and the First Unitarian Church of Portland, which celebrates its 150th year this June.

The First Baptist Church rents its sanctuary space to rock ‘n’ roll Christians in the afternoon under the banner of Bridgetown, “A Jesus Church,” which has an electric rock band that was warming up when I dropped by. I stepped inside to see the First Baptist sanctuary, and I liked its circular layout and stained glass, similar to the Baptist church in Seattle, also of the same era. These are Northwest Baptists, so I assume a bit more laid back than their Southern brethren. I have always loved stained glass. It is a great art form, as is stone masonry.

(For the record, I did not have beer for breakfast, smell fried chicken, or have a religious experience like Kris Kristopherson and Johnny Cash.)

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

Luarelhurst Park’s tree spirits

Laurelhurst Park in east Portland is about as English of a Portland park as they come. It is a perfect example of urban planning dating to the City Beautiful movement. Everything is so, well, proper and in its place. It felt like someone have used a vacuum cleaner before I came, even on a wet and muddy day. I loved the gnarly old arboreal denizens. They just begged for attention. So I returned after an accidental visit and grabbed a few photos.

Pretty Portland, without the grit and the grime
The view is from the Eastbank Esplanade.
Another view of the South Waterfront development.
This photo was taken near the waterfront.

Every single city in the world, and country for that matter, would prefer to present a postcard image of itself to the world. Portland’s emerging brand is one of “smart development,” urban villages, greater density, and urban beauty. These are descriptors I grabbed from the cultural ecosystem. Other observers may have alternative brand labels.

I took these photos over the past few days. South Waterfront is a development on former brownfields industrial land that once was used to build ships. The tram that connects to OHSU and a streetcar are some of the high-cost infrastructure projects that support this high-end neighborhood. It also has been the subject of attacks for being a tax giveaway to developers and for nearly going belly-up during the Great Recession. Condos had to be converted to apartments as a result of the tanking real-estate market that defined the bubble that burst.

I snapped the downtown Portland photo from the Eastbank Esplanade of the lovely cherry trees in full bloom and the city in the background. It is the type of image we see in Portlandia, on postcards, and in stock images that sell the city to the world. We are not showing the four or five tent camps I passed on my bike route that took me to the vantage points where I took these pictures. You can read more about that on some of my other blog posts.

St. John’s Bridge, Portland
I took this shot during a nice bike ride I took on the north side of Portland this week.

The St. John’s Bridge, in North Portland, is bike friendly and outstanding for views of Portland and the Willamette River. There are a lot of fabulous rides that can include a trip over the bridge. The views are always worth it.

A mini adventure at Wahkeena Falls

During the past year I discovered the writings and videos of British adventurer Alistair Humphreys. He biked around the world, wrote a book about it, and then turned that into a career of motivational speaking, media production, and discovery. I like his spirit. I like his style. So, Alistair, I am totally ripping you off here, even stealing your term (well, just this once) for this short video highlighting a great trail near Portland. I came to Wahkeena Falls a year ago and loved the place. It is a steep climb up a great trail on the Columbia River Gorge, about 30 miles from downtown Portland. This trail climbs more than 2,000 feet in elevation and provides a few great views of the Gorge. In the spirit of Alistair, I am branding this a “microadventure” because it really is. I will develop my own branding later. Hope you are not too tweaked about this, mate. Mimicry is a form of flattery, as they say.

The Brooklyn intermodal rail yard, still chugging and causing a fuss

For more than a year in my 20s, I lived within a half mile of this large track of industrial land in southeast Portland, now run by the Union Pacific Corp. The yard itself dates to 1860s, and today serves as a Union Pacific transfer point, where cargo is either moved from rail cars to trucks for local distribution or vice versa to the rail system.

A huge fight broke out in the 1950s between the rail yard owners and neighbors in the Eastmoreland and Sellwood-Westmoreland neighborhoods. A more than five-decades long injunction limiting some rail yard activity was lifted in 2012, and the Union Pacific moved forward with a planned upgrade worth $75 million. However, pollution by the yard is being monitored with the help from nearby Reed College. In 2014, the head of the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association bought a drone to monitor activity at the yard. The association represents the upscale subdivision in southeast Portland that is next to the rail yard. I guess it remains, trust but verify in my part of this city. Seriously, a neighborhood association is now using a drone to promote its interests against a major U.S. corporation.