In September, while touring my mom throughout Portland we stumbled upon two monks from the Mangyal Monastery (home of the Dalai Lama) – who were creating a Compassion sand mandala for 2 days at a store in the pearl district called Cargo. The Venerable Ngawang Chojor (on the left), is a senior monk who apparently was in Seven Years In Tibet with Brad Pitt. What I found most amazing is that once this mandala was finished, there was going to be a dismantling ceremony as a metaphor for impermanence of all things. It is believed that witnessing the creation of a mandala develops ties within the people in attendance and that it also strengthens community.
Have you ever witnessed a mandala being created?
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Tags: autumn, brad pitt, cargo, cargoinc.com, ceremony, color, community, compassion, creat, dalai lama, develop, dismantling, fall, impermanence, mandala, mangyal monastery, metaphor, mom, monk, monks, ngawang chojor, oregon, pearl, photography, portland, sand, sand mandala, senior, seven years in tibet, strengthens, things, witnessing
I stumbled upon this sweet neighborhood rose garden yesterday. The garden had almost every color and variety of roses planted. All were in perfect bloom. It’s no wonder the city of roses is so serious about the flowers. They are truly gorgeous!
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Tags: autumn, city of roses, color, fall, flower, flowers, gorgeous, neighborhood, oregon, photography, portland, rose, roses, variety
I am thankful for all of this free time that I have right now. I feel like my life has transformed once again; doing yoga, volunteering my skills to a local non profit, click click clicking at everything I see. This time has given me the chance to slow down. I look for and appreciate the beauty in every moment I breathe. Kinda like witnessing the sunrise this morning after dropping Kari off at work.
I am thankful that I have the opportunity to make smart decisions for myself without being so hasty all the time.
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Tags: autumn, breathe, click, decisions, east, fall, hasty, Kari, life, local, my, non profit, opportunity, oregon, photography, portland, skills, slow down, smart, sunrise, thank, thankful, transformed, volunteering, yoga
I have a new found obsession. My obsession is with the views of Mt. Hood. I feel so lucky that almost anywhere I go in Portland it is almost guaranteed that I’ll have a perfect view of Mt. Hood. I can’t seem to get enough of how enormous is it. And, dare I also say peaceful? I’ve noticed that since the season has turned to Fall that there has been recent snowfall over Mt. Hood which inevitably creates a brighter, whiter – more distinct cascade over the eastern side of Portland.
Maybe Mt. Hood is also a new representation of where I consider to be my place of home. It’s quite comforting.
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Tags: autumn, brighter, cascade, daily, east, fall, home, lucky, Mt. Hood, obsession, oregon, portland, season, snow, snowfall, views, white, whiter
Yesterday had to have been one of the most gorgeous days ever. I was only about a block away from my house when I urgently pulled the car over so I could get out to capture a few click, click, clicks of that sky. I couldn’t get enough of the beauty and decided to walk up to Mt. Tabor Park to take it all in. Each step I took from my doorstep to the top of Mt. Tabor was full of delight. I couldn’t get enough of that perfect blue sky, the sun shining through those white puffy clouds, the feeling of the crisp, fresh air on my cheeks, and the sounds of nature singing. It’s days like this that I want to capture the perfect image and perhaps place it in my hands and eat it all up! What an amazing experience it was for me to finally capture this new season in my new home. The entire time on my walk I kept thinking to myself, “Thank you, Universe! Thank you! What a truly gorgeous day it is!”
I had once been resistant to the thought of summertime coming to a screeching halt. I changed my mind after yesterday.
This photo got “Photo of the Week” via Portland’s Neighborhood online network: http://community.portlandneighborhood.com/profiles/blogs/portland-blog-this-week-in-23
Again, I am humbled.
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Tags: autumn, crisp, fall, leaves, mt tabor park, northwest, park, pdx, portland
Last night Kari and I decided to go for a brisk walk in our neighborhood. You see, the weather is turning here in Portland. We’ve decided to practice a Fall / Winter habit that no matter how cold it gets, no matter how rainy and wet it is outside that we’ll push ourselves out the front door for some fresh air and exercise. I think we did alright last night as we ended up at one of our favorite bars up the street for happy hour. We already feel like “Norrrrm” when we walk inside Vintage, because the bar owner always looks up and gives us a warm greeting and usually says, “What’ll it be tonight, ladies?”
Last night, the bar owner came over to our table to chat it up with us since we last paid him a visit. He immediately thanked me for posting this picture on his fb “Become a Fan” wall and said, “That’s a great picture by the way.” I quickly responded, “Well thank you. That was quite an experience tasting that flight of Scotch.”
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Tags: bar, cheers, montavilla, neighborhood, portland, scotch, stark street, vintage, walk
