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.

A few more churches, it is Sunday afterall
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.

While exploring a part of Northeast Portland, i spotted two churches that needed some photographic attention. The light was just setting as I pulled up to St. Stephen’s Catholic Church on a cold day last weekend, and then minutes later, the sun dipped, and the entire look and feel of the church changed.

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

Black and white in black and white, 25th University City High School reunion

 

This photo was taken at my 25th high school reunion in University City, Mo.

I attended University City High School from 1980 through 1983. There is so much I can say about it, and I already have on a couple of posts about the value of public education and the importance of learning from adversity.

I cannot say it was a golden period of my life. In many ways, it challenged me and I could not wait to get away from the St. Louis area as soon as I could. However, the best part of that period of my life, through my graduation, was learning how to confront and respond to aspects of race relations that impact our country, but really most of the world. I do not claim I am a better person. I just think I have a more nuanced view and can appreciate different perspectives better because of this experience. And trust me, I have some perspectives that do not fit traditional narratives, but make sense for me. My later photo-documentary projects were very much inspired by going to a place like University City High School.

I have been thinking about University City lately in light of recent events. For the past two years, the country has been roiled with the latest chapters in our race-related debates over criminal justice, policing, immigration reform, and firerms-related violence.

The most prominent stories focussing on the black-and-white dimensions have come to a boil over the recent grand jury decision in St. Louis County not to indict Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson, Mo., police officer, for shooting an unarmed African American man, Michael Brown, in Ferguson this summer; the exonneration of Latino George Zimmerman (often mistakenly called white throughout the proceedings) for the 2012 shooting death of African-American teenager Trayvon Martin in a Florida suburb over a “stand your ground” case; and this week the failure by a New York City grand jury to indict white police officer Daniel Pantaleo over the choke hold death of 43-year-old Eric Garner in July 2014.

Dr. Martin Luther King once reportedly said Sunday morning was the most segregated time in America. I personally think the more hours you spend with people who have a different set of experiences than you, the wiser and more thoughtful you will be. I have pretty much thought that since I left University City. My hope is that there can be individual efforts by ordinary people in their own way to get to know each other better, while working on bigger problems that continue to impact communities everywhere in this country.

(Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Providence Portland, a gilded palace of American high-cost health care
In the United States, the health care system favors profitable, high-cost, and disease-focussed interventions, as opposed to a system that is based on population health models that attempt to deliver basic care to all residents.
Taken with a GoPro.
Providence Portland Medical Center is among the Providence system’s largest facilities, occupying a piece of prime real estate in Portland’s Laurelhurst neighborhood.

The United States, according to extensive research, has among the most expensive health care costs in the world, yet our national public health rankings on everything from life longevity to maternal health outcomes to access to oral health, continually fall far behind our developed country neighbors. The United States offers a hybrid approach, including a bizarre, monopolistic, and hybrid non-market health care system that provides products and services (“health care”) without allowing consumers to know the price of a service or product before they make a purchase.

This is a result of more than a century of battles to block the country from adopting universal health care models now used by Canada, England, France, Australia, and Scandinavian Countries, among other developed nations.

One has to look no further than major medical centers in your community to identify some of the major culprits behind the unsustainable growth of health care costs.

In my home city, Portland, one of the major gilded palaces is Providence Portland Medical Center. The Catholic-run system operates in six states and is among the country’s largest non-profits. For its Oregon operations in 2011, the system reported a hefty $2.44 billion in revenue, up 7.4 percent from a year before, according to the respected health care newsletter the Lund Report. The Lund Report noted that profits reached $1.98 billion in 2011 for Oregon operations, up 8.1 percent year-over-year.

Remember, this is a not-for-profit system, and offers what is called “charity care.” Some communities like Tacoma, Wash., in 2012, have stripped some tax exemptions of these so-called non-profits by claiming these health providers acted as for-profit companies while also benefiting from tax exemptions.

Here is another fact to keep in mind. According to the Lund Report, in 2011, Gregory Van Pelt, CEO of Providence Oregon, had a total compensation package of $4.26 million.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans still cannot access basic care. According to a study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in October 2014, the cost of health care and the reliance on insurance-based care tied to jobs prevent Americans from getting health care.

The foundation notes: “The high cost of insurance has been the main reason why people go without coverage. In 2013, 61% of uninsured adults said the main reason they were uninsured was because the cost was too high or because they had lost their job. Many people do not have access to coverage through a job, and gaps in eligibility for public coverage in the past have left many without an affordable option.”

The doggie cam harness before there was a doggie cam harness

I made this video in 2013, a year before GoPro came out with its own line of harnesses designed especially for dogs. Other companies were already out of the gate, but all I had at the time was a human head harness. I enlisted the help of my neighbor and her best buddy and my good friend, Balloo. Balloo was a trooper and tolerated the indignity of a loose fitting harness. We got a few good shots playing catch. I saw both owner and Balloo again at Thanksgiving, and Balloo cried when he saw me. He is such a goooooood boy!

Joan of Arc, savior of … Laurelhurst, in Portland?
Taken with a GoPro.
The statue sits in a traffic circle in the upscale neighborhood of Laurelhurst.

Joan of Arc is one of history’s great, inspiriational figures and a saint beloved by the French. She was a poor woman, born in a violent era of never-ending war. In this male-dominated world, she rose to become one of the most revered military strategists (celebrated at West Point) and a religious icon at the same time for helping save the Kingdom of France from disintegrating. She was burned at the stake at the young age of 19, having accomplished more in a short life than most of us can even dream of.

She inspired others to action. She took bold and decisive action. She used her wits repeatedly to challenge more powerful groups and opponents around her. And she remained passionately committed to her vision that many claim was inspired by either religious visions or psychological disorders.

She famously said, “Better today than tomorrow, better tomorrow than the day after.” She also is remembered by her words, “go forth boldly.” (See an article I wrote about Joan in 2013 on my policy and ideas blog.)

Joan also is feted at a major traffic circle in Portland at Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Glisan, in the upscale Laurelhurst neighborhood. This statue honoring the “Maid of Orleans” was commissioned and bequeathed to the city by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe in 1924. It is a replica of an original by French sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet, at the Place de Rivoli in Paris. So this is yet another thing I never knew existed here before, when I lived in Portland in the 1980s, though I was too busy then to discover the city.

Well, I say, I am glad Joan is riding her prancing steed through my fair city. Watch out dull-witted, arrogant occupiers. We have the saint to protect and save us. Never underestimate a strong mind with a clear purpose. You will be overcome if you do. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Old Laurelhurst Church, Portland, Ore.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

Today, I was exploring a few areas around the Hollywood and Laurelhurst neighborhoods. Laurelhurst is one of Portland’s very tony, planned upscale communities that dates from the early 1900s. Portland is full of these high-end places, along with areas that are extremely low-income. One of the landmarks in this posh hood is the Old Laurelhurst Church. It is non-denominational and available for rent for events like weddings. Standing out front I would have thought I was back in sunny San Diego today, except it was below freezing. This town is just full of interesting churches.  (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

House of Providence, in Vancouver, Wash.
Taken with a GoPro.
The building was created as a facility to serve orphans in 1873.

While driving on Interstate 5 from Portland to Vancouver, I spotted this old building in Vancouver, and pulled into the city to check it out. The House of Providence is an academy created in Vancouver in 1873 to serve orphans. It’s a beautiful old building that is showing some creaks and groans with age. I like pulling off the side of the road, exploring new places, and sharing the treasures I find. You can find the House of Providence off the first exit on I-5 heading north from Portland, Ore.

Skate skiing at Teacup on Mt. Hood

Teacup Lake is a groomed cross country ski area on Mt. Hood. Trails are groomed and maintained by Teacup Lake chapter of the Oregon Nordic Club. The season opened early last weekend, but the snow was the typical Cascades wet, heavy glop. This week, warm weather will delay the re-opening. Here is a video I put together of the Hood River Road Trail, one of the few groomed trails open when I skied (Nov. 23). One reason I love skate skiing is because I get to combine screaming downhill fun and hard work required to skate ski and particularly climb hills, or the lung-busters. Hope you get out of town whereever you are and enjoy winter.

Division Street, and wow, it has changed
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.

I really love having no reference points, visual or otherwise, between the time I lived in Portland in the 1980s and the present. This lets me make comparisons from mental pictures. SE Division Street between Cesar Chavez Boulevard (formerly 39th Street) and about 26th Street used to be a quiet place. I distinctly remember several biker bars. The Oregonian (now called Oregon Live) now claims it is Portland’s “hottest food destination.” I like the food cart court here, St. Honoré Boulangerie, and the Bollywood Theatre.