Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
There are a bunch of courtyard dwellings in our neighborhood that were apparently built in the heyday of the streetcar era. It’s interesting how they adapted as we gave our cities over to the automobile, Avon Manor (which I think was built in the late 1920’s) is fairly unique in having a central garage with a shared entrance that sits just below street level. I love the archway and the little bits of art, but it was especially beautiful on this snowy winter day.
We all live in a yellow snowy scene, a yellow snowy scene, a yellow snowy scene.
I wandered alone through the snowy woods, lost in thought, the heavy snow muffling my every footfall. Except these snowy woods were actually my snowy neighborhood. Not so romantic!
I used to think all city neighborhoods were a desert of brick and concrete and asphalt so I was surprised when we first started looking at neighborhoods in Portland to see so many tree-lined streets, such as Siskiyou Street here. I didn’t walk across Siskiyou much in the first seven years we lived here, just occasionally on trips to the store, as it is to our north and the train station for the light rail I take to work is to our south. In the last eight years however I’ve crossed thousands of times, as while it isn’t on the way to the train station, it is on the way to the dog park.
It doesn’t usually look like this though.
We rarely get much snow here in Portland so our snowmen tend to be rather diminutive, so I was tickled when walking Ellie that we had both big snow and a big snowman, the kind I had heretofore only seen in the movies. It was because I stepped over to take this picture that I turned around and got this picture of the saddest dog in the world.
A number of houses in our neighborhood have these little lending libraries, I was pleased to see this one open even in the heavy snow.
Ellie and I were on our way home when the heavy snow had folded tall branches down over the sidewalk. “Looks like nature itself has blocked our path, pup, we’ll have to find another way forward.”
“It’s the Mines of Moria for us then?”
“Let’s try the street first, there are no cars coming. Still, be on the lookout for a Balrog!”
“I’m not worried!”
“My brave and faithful Ellie!”
“I can run faster than you.”
Boolie 