I was so bummed out yesterday when we hiked all the way up to Mt Tabor park for my stage performance debut and not a soul showed up. I mean I know it’s been cold and rainy outside, but I thought Portlanders were rain warriors.
p.s. Your comments on any post that you view on my photog are Welcome. Do you see the welcome mat? It says, “Leave a Comment”. 
yep…..
…still totally obsessed with Mt. Hood. I can’t wait to take a road trip up to see the mtn up close. We’re making plans with our friends to go snowboarding or tubing or sledding. Yah, I think tubing or sledding is more my thing. I’ve signed up to take ski lessons in years past at Heavenly, and was dumb enough to try the bunny slope before I actually took the lesson. That didn’t work out so great. I ended up making speed -up to what felt like 100mph on skis that I didn’t know how to control other than “pizza” now “french fries”…..
Yep. I bailed out, passed out, and was taken down the mountainside by the mtn patrol. A few months later, I made another trip to Heavenly (now that I think about it, I think I was cursed on that mountain) and took snowboarding lessons. Yah, I ended up being the adult student in the class that the bitchy blonde haired, blue eyed, snow bunny Tahoe queen picked on for the entire hour. “No, Trina. A falling leaf. Watch the others. Look. They’re doing the falling leaf down the hill on their boards. Now you try!” I thought it was quite entertaining since the moment I rocked myself upright onto the board and proceeded to barrel straight down the hill and practically taking out every person in my line of path.
I do have to say that the Heavenly ski lodge makes delicious hot tottie drinks. 
It’s happening. Fall is weening so fast. I’ve been watching this tree down the street from my house. It’s so enormous and beautiful. The wet, cold and rainy season of Portland has arrived. I feel a little sad about this year’s incredible summer and early fall beauty coming to an end. 
I need to keep good perspective this winter. During those crummy wintery days, I will have to constantly remind myself that all this rain creates the beauty that I so love about Portland.
In other news, I planted about 85 spring bulbs in the garden today.
This is an old photo that I took when I lived in North Carolina. It’s one of my favorites from the church sign series I took. I saw on the news today that a church in North Carolina is burning bibles as an annual Halloween ritual. It reminded me of the series. It takes all kinds. I guess.
On Monday afternoon, I did volunteer work for Step It Up, Inc. I was asked to go to Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s (2nd largest law firm in Oregon) employee workplace giving campaign kick off luncheon and present on behalf of Step It Up, Inc. I thought. Easy. Piece of cake. This was my job at the American Cancer Society in Charlotte. I would love to do this volunteer job today!
Little did I realize that Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s office is on the 19th floor in downtown Portland across the street from city hall. Way cool! Of course, I was totally distracted by the incredible views all around the building.
There is nothing like seeing the excitement in a child’s eyes over something as simple as a pumpkin. I got to experience that feeling this weekend after spending the weekend with my sister and her family out at the Oregon coast. On Sunday, we caravanned back to Portland to spend another night together. I had the best time playing with my nephew and experiencing the newness of life and words with him. It made me chuckle each time he’d run over to the pumpkinand worty gourds displayed in my living room and say, “PUMPkinssssssss!” I’d respond to him, “Yes, boo…that’s a pumpkin.” He’d smile big showing me all his new teeth and then run off into the living room to find more new things to play with.
My cup runneth over.
I can’t get enough of the skyline these days. This storm passing through has been incredible to watch. If you didn’t already know, I have a fascination with the sky; the clouds and the shapes that it creates. I think this bike scene is the epitome of the lifestyle and culture that Portland embraces.
I think I’ve made a real storm chaser of myself.
I’ve been trying to capture this storm that is passing through the west coast. This shot was taken looking east fom the city of portland, oregon. Just about mid-center of this photo is Mt. Hood. By the looks of the clouds over Mt. Hood, it’s getting some serious weathering over there!
This shot was taken looking west – into the city of portland – over Hawthorne. 
The acorn squash that I made last night turned out pretty good. I do have to say that if you’re looking to make a meal that is *packed* with fiber, then I’d highly recommend acorn squash.
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.
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.
I went to the pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island in search of the perfect pumpkin. Okay, maybe two pumpkin patches. One just wasn’t enough. The day turned out to be the most spectacular Northwest Fall afternoon. The sky was perfectly blue. It had Portland-swooshing clouds. And, the color palate of the farms was incredible from juicy orange to foliage green to sunshine yellows. Yum. I had another sensation today of wanting to eat it all up in one captured moment.
When are you going to find your perfect pumpkin?
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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