The room desires to deconstruct itself.
Collapse the furniture, crumble the walls,
slip off its roof. Let air fall into this space.
Let moonlight cast shadows,
and not just through the window.
But the rest of the house reaches out.
Every time the room sheds its paint,
the house pulls it back.
It feels good to be wanted, so essential a room.
A space that makes the house what it is.
It would be missed so, should it decide to leave.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Dawn to dusk!
The objective: walk a random route through Portland, stopping each hour to record location with a photo.
E. and I hatched this plan a few weeks ago, on another long walk around the Sellwood neighborhood. Both of us, as kids, used to just take off for the day on bikes or our own two feet, pedaling four hours down a bike path, or rambling down a country road. I used to like to head through town, out past the Knox Estate and its polo fields, past the seminary, all the way down Willardshire road to a small creek. It would take a few hours to get there. I'd eat a smooshed sandwich, wade a bit in the water, then start the trek back. No one ever asked where I was all day. I did this whenever I got bored with the long summer days.
We wanted to actually walk from dawn to dusk, but as it's summer and sunrise is about 5:00 AM, and sunset is about 9:30 PM, we thought that a bit ambitious. So we decided 9:30 AM was a good start time, and we'd just walk until we were too tired to continue.
9:20 AM. Leave from home base, about 42nd and Prescott.
10:20 AM. At the Ann Sacks distrubution center on NE 33rd. We're approaching the Columbia River at this point. Lots of industrial sites and distribution sites along this path. Also lots of cyclists in bright lycra heading up to Marine Drive. We spot rabbits dodging into the brush along the road, redwinged blackbirds diving into the tall grasses, and a red-tailed hawk hovering on the wind gusts, hunting for its next meal.
The Oregon Food Bank not only collects donated food for the hungry. They grow it too.
11:25 AM. Along the Columbia River. Sirrus clouds produce a Sundog over the Portland Airport. The clouds are pink, green, yellow.
12:20 PM. Approaching the Glenn Jackson Bridge. My feet are already feeling tired.
1:20. Lunchtime! At Jim Dandy on Sandy Blvd. Cruisin' on in!
They have a gazillion kinds of milkshakes, but I settle on chocolate, and a gardenburger to boot. It goes down fast. Tastes great. In retrospect, consuming all that dairy was not smart. Back on the path, the milkshake and my Fierce Melon Gatorade churned together in my gut with each step.
2:28 at the entrance of Maywood Park, a city within the City of Portland. Maywood Park even has its own mayor.
3:20. As we passed this house, the opening notes from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" came blaring out from one amped-up guitar. Then it stopped. E. and I burst into giggles.
3:45. We are so taking the Max.
4:05. IPA, chips and salsa at the Laurelwood Brewing Co. in the Hollywood district. We were still full from the milkshakes though.
Look closely.
E. and I hatched this plan a few weeks ago, on another long walk around the Sellwood neighborhood. Both of us, as kids, used to just take off for the day on bikes or our own two feet, pedaling four hours down a bike path, or rambling down a country road. I used to like to head through town, out past the Knox Estate and its polo fields, past the seminary, all the way down Willardshire road to a small creek. It would take a few hours to get there. I'd eat a smooshed sandwich, wade a bit in the water, then start the trek back. No one ever asked where I was all day. I did this whenever I got bored with the long summer days.
We wanted to actually walk from dawn to dusk, but as it's summer and sunrise is about 5:00 AM, and sunset is about 9:30 PM, we thought that a bit ambitious. So we decided 9:30 AM was a good start time, and we'd just walk until we were too tired to continue.
9:20 AM. Leave from home base, about 42nd and Prescott.
10:20 AM. At the Ann Sacks distrubution center on NE 33rd. We're approaching the Columbia River at this point. Lots of industrial sites and distribution sites along this path. Also lots of cyclists in bright lycra heading up to Marine Drive. We spot rabbits dodging into the brush along the road, redwinged blackbirds diving into the tall grasses, and a red-tailed hawk hovering on the wind gusts, hunting for its next meal.
The Oregon Food Bank not only collects donated food for the hungry. They grow it too.
11:25 AM. Along the Columbia River. Sirrus clouds produce a Sundog over the Portland Airport. The clouds are pink, green, yellow.
12:20 PM. Approaching the Glenn Jackson Bridge. My feet are already feeling tired.
1:20. Lunchtime! At Jim Dandy on Sandy Blvd. Cruisin' on in!
They have a gazillion kinds of milkshakes, but I settle on chocolate, and a gardenburger to boot. It goes down fast. Tastes great. In retrospect, consuming all that dairy was not smart. Back on the path, the milkshake and my Fierce Melon Gatorade churned together in my gut with each step.
2:28 at the entrance of Maywood Park, a city within the City of Portland. Maywood Park even has its own mayor.
3:20. As we passed this house, the opening notes from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" came blaring out from one amped-up guitar. Then it stopped. E. and I burst into giggles.
3:45. We are so taking the Max.
4:05. IPA, chips and salsa at the Laurelwood Brewing Co. in the Hollywood district. We were still full from the milkshakes though.
Look closely.
5:30 PM. Almost back to home base. A full 15 miles, very sunburned legs, blisters on all ten toes, but worth it. Then I found these happy dudes in a box of free stuff!
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