Photos of the Month - 1/16/14

My favorite local Christmas tree, with prayer flags

Those of you who visited this blog regularly before our hiatus no doubt remember the Photo of the Week feature. It was quite a regular thing from January 2010 until April 2013, though by that time it had grown sporadic. Part of that was just the general blog malaise, but it’s also true that in February 2013 I had a moment of butterfingers with the camera, which has left it still operable but a bit temperamental—which is actually better than the fate I initially believed it had suffered. A new camera exists somewhere on my wish list of items both real & imaginary—somewhere between the necessities of food, shelter & guitar strings, not to mention softball league entry fees & tai chi lessons, & the implausibly desired Tone Devil harp guitar.

Very large & tired teddy bear outside a daycare, N. Beech St.

But the camera still takes good pictures, & it has occurred to me that posting photos at some point each month is probably a workable goal. In fact, on occasion I may even post them more frequently. I walk a lot, & having a camera with me makes for a handy pastime, which I’m also happy to share here.

The headless uke player in a shop window on N Mississippi Ave

So here are a few shots of the neighborhood where I live in North Portland, in the area between North Williams Avenue to the east & North Mississippi Avenue to the west; they were taken (along with others that will probably show up here later this month) yesterday during an afternoon walk. A damp, cloudy January day—in other words, typical of Portland this time of year. But there was no rain!

Implausible snowman & unseasonal Christmas mouse atop the Maui bar, N. Williams Ave

& as you can see, the holiday decorations are still out.