Street & Travel – Page 20

Neighbors

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Matthew 22:36-39

Families from Portland’s Irvington neighborhood enjoy a snowy day in Irving Park, building snowmen, sledding down the hill, playing with their dogs. This is what America could be, people enjoying their neighbors regardless of race or religion or gender or sexuality or any of the other walls we build to separate us, but it breaks my heart not so much that this country will never exist but that so many don’t even want it to. And doubly so that so many Christians reject in fear those we should be embracing.

I think all of the gospels can be summed up in the parable of the good Samaritan, a parable that Jesus tells not to teach us to be kind to strangers, which he assumes we already know, but to teach us who our neighbor is.

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:36-37

The essence of Christianity is this:

Love your neighbor
Your neighbor is everyone

Forget about putting Christ in Christmas, how amazing could this world be if Christians put Christ in Christianity?

Pink Houses

Pink house, orange truck, dressed in the white of winter.

Winter at the Door of Hope

When we got an unusually heavy snowfall earlier in the month, I wanted a picture of the Door of Hope church in the snow. The church sits at the edge of Irving Park and Ellie and I used to pass it as we walked around the path that circles the park, but these days after a quick visit to the dog park she wants to head out into the neighborhood instead of going further into the park.

I had thoughts of making her go up to the church as the snow continued to fall, it isn’t much farther than the dog park, but I just couldn’t do it. This theme continued as we walked, on the one hand I knew this was a historic storm and it was not something I’d have the chance to photograph again, but on the other hand this was also going to be my only chance to enjoy this much snow with the pup, and I chose the pup. I did take pictures on our walk, some of her and some of the neighborhood, but only on streets she chose to go down. An hour and a half later I dropped off an exhausted Ellie at the house and went back out alone for more pictures. The snow was still falling as I reached the Door of Hope and took this picture.

A few days later I bribed Ellie with treats to get her up to the church on our morning walk, now bathed in the morning light, every inch of snow trampled underfoot by families enjoying the unusual snow. I had thoughts about making her sit in front of the little utility building from the previous post, it’s just a little further up the path to the left of this picture, but she wanted to go and I couldn’t say no.

I Could Live Here and Be Happy

Well, except that it’s just a little utility building at the edge of Irving Park. Fremont Street and 7th Avenue are a bit to the right and behind, basketball courts immediately to the left. The walking path around the park goes past here, I’ve walked by many times with Ellie and never thought about taking a picture, but I was struck by how completely the snow transformed the scene and made it seem so peaceful and lovely, like a little cabin in a snowy forest.

Winter Advice

Never walk without your beloved dog when the snow falls heavy and deep, for if you wake a hidden dragon she’ll lull it back to sleep.

Winter Sunrise

Before taking Ellie on her morning walk, I snapped this picture from our top steps of the snow that had fallen overnight, an unusual sight in Portland. The sun was rising, not that I could tell, clouds covered the skies and the snow was still falling.

Amen

As Goes the MAX, Go I

I take the MAX light rail to work most of the time, so during our winter storms I often decide to go to work or take vacation time based on how well the train is running. The day after our big snow the trains were running well so I went back to work, my hat’s off to everyone who made that possible. It takes me a lot longer to commute on the train than by car but it is much less stressful. I did take some time off later due to ice, typically our biggest problem in the winter.

These pictures are taken at the 7th Avenue station, where I board the train in the morning and get off in the evening. It’s about a 15 or 20 minute walk from our house. That walk is also the most dangerous part of my life, especially the busy streets near the station, I had to jump back on the sidewalk on Thursday when a semi blatantly ran a red light at high speed. I drove on Friday since protests were likely to shut down the trains during my evening commute (and they did) but when I got in the car in the morning, it hit me how much I miss the car but not the drive. I love driving but the traffic makes it miserable. I’m very thankful for these trains, I just wish I didn’t have to deal with cars to get to them.

Many of these posts are written on the train, but it’s a Saturday morning so I’m writing this one on the couch.

Fading Glory, Fading Use

Many of the garages in our old neighborhood are too small to hold modern cars. Even our little Crosstrek is a tight fit in our old one car garage. I’ve wanted to photograph these side-by-side garages for a while, as they have seen better days yet still hint at their former glory, and on this day fortune smiled as Ellie decided to walk down this street and I happened to have my camera with me.

Night Falls, And So Does the Snow

I took this picture from inside the house as an unusually heavy snowstorm blanketed Portland. The snow was still falling when I went to sleep, I measured 10 inches of snow outside the garage in the morning.