Architecture and Dance!

The Eco Building over in NW. I love the fact that the window (and its reflection of the condo across the street) don't quite match the outline of a former doorway. It helps me to understand that there are many ways in to human relations and what may have worked in the past... because architecture and the buildings that are designed are about nothing but human relationships....may not work today. We change. And grow.

I dare you not to totally enjoy this amazing 24 hour video. It syncs to what your computer clock is saying right now.

Happy Christmas!

Took this on Sunday in Salem but somehow it seems festive to me. Here in Portland, astonishingly we both had sun and were above freezing today. Walking ensued even though I am one tired puppy.

It has been an interesting holiday for me full of good information. Although I miss Mr. Finch (spent more holidays with him than with anyone else except my family) and Stella terribly, I am ready to be a bit more engaged with others than I planned for.

Next year I will remedy that.

Normally I would not put up a link to a commercial venture but this one is about workout clothes. It is sort of a club where they put cute little workout ensembles together for you and offer them as an outfit each month. It is called Fabeletics. As I am going to start teaching yoga more often and longer classes in just a few weeks I need all the help I can get and shopping is something I do not do well. :) So what the heck...

All the best to all of you during the turning of this year.

Ornamental Perambulations

I actually got out for a little while with the camera (and the family) yesterday down in Salem. This picture is too nice to size down in my humble opinion. :)

This year on Christmas Eve I get to clock out from work at noon. That will be so very nice. My ambition these days is trending towards a pile of warm blankets and a good book.

Happy happy almost.

A Morning for the Birds

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Someday I really need to go there in the spring. But in the meantime this morning they had the best selection of water fowl. No Golden-eyes or Teals but pretty much everything else including Buffleheads!

This week I have been listening to this over and over again. Somehow it seems appropriate both for the season and the mood.

Early music at its best.

Another Night Shot

The Christmas Boats on the Willamette River this time a few years back.

I am making a public avowal that no matter how much work I have to do I am not working this weekend, k?

Bird trip in the works for early Saturday morning. It could not possibly be more wet than the last bird outing I was on. Poetry reading Sunday evening. Something social and festive in between I hope.

Here is a Favorite Books of the Year list link. Hey, I have actually read one of these. And it was good. Think I need to try the mystery.

The Edge

The edge of the Portland Japanese Garden this time a few years ago. The soft green on the eyes is such a relief during this dark gray everything is brown time of year. I am constantly seeking color.

Fingers crossed we don't get ice tonight. I am hoping to get out to a Christmas concert and see what I can do about getting into that festive holiday spirit.

The Cold

My Planet Monet T-Shirt came yesterday!

Clear and very cold today. Very cold. Maybe the coldest it has been here in 40 years cold tonight. My heart aches for the mentally ill who are unable to make safe choices during these extreme weather events.

My heart also aches for so many folks that have lost loved ones this last week.

Here is a link to the Tiny Desk Concert by Cantus. It is about 16 minutes long. May you find some comfort here.

Animal Spirits

Yard art from a front yard one block down from SW Corbett street.

I have a link today!

The Planet Money Seed to Shirt project. I am still waiting for delivery of my shirt. Impatiently I might add.

I hope to take most of Sunday off this week. It is that creative balance between anxiety about things not done and acceptance that there is just a swelling river of work and one dips in when one needs to and can.

Color at Dusk

This is from a few hours ago, east side of the Steel Bridge (101 years old now) looking back. Phone shot. It reminds me that I can always work on my night shots. Nice walk just at dusk along the river.

A bit nippy though.

Only 17 days until the solstice.

Still too busy at work to be cruising the Internet for links but it will only be a few more weeks before I can return to a more normal schedule and pastimes.

That is the plan anyway.

Practicing Winter

Not that I am counting or anything but only three weeks until the days start getting longer!

I admit I stole this link from XDs blog on Prosebox. It is all about forgotten words. Those of us who write poetry (and do crossword puzzles) haven't forgotten all of these words. :)

This is the last sun we will see for some days. It is overcast out there now. Sigh.

Me, I am trying to get all my chores done today and dip my toe into the Christmas mood as I'll be working way too much during the next few weeks. Oh well. I am very grateful to have a job.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were to lucky to have glorious light today. I went out this afternoon with the camera. While out I was having trouble with the tiny teeny on switch on my Nikon Coolpix and had to stop shooting but I think I have figured it out now.

November is the color yellow for me and I am thrilled to have it almost over. I'm having an easy relaxing day that involves only foot travel.

This recent Tiny Desk Concert with John Legend is most definitely worth the 12 minute investment of time.

Odds and Orts

Over in the old neighborhood yesterday there is a corner I know well and poles on three of the four compass points have been knit bombed but this telephone pole shows the crochet arts. :)

I just thought it was a fun way to display orts.

Too much work. I have too much work to do. I am just saying... Toast girl. I am toast.

Handsome Fellows Hail from Thailand?

I am wondering of these two are Korats? The breed. They live a few blocks from me and I have most likely featured one or the other of them here before. I am learning such wonderful things about cats in Cat Sense, including that I may have felt guilty about my Stella's retiring and somewhat wildcat behavior for years for no reason.

On a completely different topic, my beloved yoga teacher has moved to Michigan but has her online yoga classes up and operational. Check it out!

I'm going to Salem today to hang out with Jack and Leo and eat vegetable strata. This is a very good thing because if I stayed home I would feel compelled to work. Which is not a good thing. :)

Fitness Age? Interesting...

Foggy winter skies even though it is technically still fall out there.

My link today is to the new "fitness age" calculator based on international studies. You need to know your waist size in centimeters and your resting heart rate.

How Old is Your Health?

I have a fitness age of 38! Sweet.

Even though I seriously could not do all the poses on the new Pure Barre DVD I tried for the first time yesterday. :)

Local Foliage

Have I mentioned the light. I feel like I have been in this paradise of low glorious light the last few days when the fog burns off. It lights the trees from underneath and it seems as if they are glowing. This is not some fancy fall foliage tour shot. This is the street in front of my place late this afternoon.

If you know someone who is interested in cats, particularly the ones we live with, here is an interview with John Bradshaw about his new book called Cat Sense. I have the Kindle version and promised my cat sitter I'd buy the hardcover version so we can share the book among us.

We spoiled the heck out of Sammy this afternoon and gave him fluids while he was sitting on my lap on the poofy chair.

Long Suffering Sam Sam

So I am at the Oregon coast. Sammy, however, is home dealing with a mouse inquisition. Poor guy.

Our amazing cat sitter is having a party with him every time she visits. She just texted this to me.

Awww.

An Extra Day Away

Oh poor me, here in Pacific City for our semi annual get away. The owners of the house we stay in replaced the big double paned windows, umm, today. It is fabulous as I took this from inside all warm and eating dinner like. :)

My link is this to this marvelous poem about fire in a new feature where the New York Times pairs a poem with a news article. The poem is by Alberto Ríos.  I do encourage you to take a minute to read it.

Perfection

A couple of days ago running home to my place from a work meeting I saw this leaf perfectly lit on the ground by the outside door. Dashed in, grabbed my camera, took this shot and then promptly forgot about it.

I haven't had time to clear the shots on my camera until tonight.

Such a glorious sunny day here all day. A treat after all that rain and cold and did I say rain???

Mt. Hood is gorgeous in her new layer of snow.

Light, Glorious Light

The worst of the storms have apparently passed for now and we are having this brief interlude of gorgeous fall light.

I teach my noon class in a conference room with floor to ceiling windows and we had a downpour while everyone was attempting Half Lord of the Fishes (a pose chosen because of the water theme here after a record breaking month of rain) and then as my students settled into Savasana the sun broke through and there was light.

It is such a gift to be able to teach and watch folks transform and calm their energies.

A Few Blocks A Few Years

I've been thinking about getting a picture of these autumn crocus for the last few days. They are in an open lot a few blocks away where the uninsured church/used bookstore was that burned down a few years ago.

It was interesting that as I was bent down in a crouch to take these shots people I have never seen before, particularly two older distinct women gravitated towards me from I don't know where. 5 years in the neighborhood and I've never seen either of them before.

The power of spontaneous wildflowers.

Transitions Abound

No really... this is a fall picture. I took this last weekend in the neighborhood. Sort of a call out to you all having late spring now. 

Too short an interview but a definite new book to consider if you gravitate towards cats is Cat Sense. I was happy to hear that de-clawing is now illegal in Europe. He has some very helpful things to say about introducing cats to each other and about how and why they do or don't get along.

I put my beloved younger cat Stella down on Friday. It was very peaceful and I am glad she is not suffering anymore. 

Sammy and I are sad but adjusting to having her gone. It is both disconcerting and a relief not to have to be constantly vigilant about her comfort and her meds which I have been doing for the better part of this year. Hopefully that is the end of cancer diagnosis's in this house for any sort of foreseeable future.

Mighty Fine Blues

Just took this. Nothing makes me more happy than the light around the time of the equinox. The fog cleared this morning about 11am and it has been mild and clear and gorgeous ever since.

Last week I listened to Faithful Place by Tana French in audio format and now after hours of this lower class Irish accent it is stuck in my head. What a brilliant book this is! Just remarkable. I'm curious if you have been to Dublin what you'd think of it. It seems to me based on descriptions I have heard that she has nailed the joys and the brutal cost of growing up there.

French says in one interview I read that the next book in the series, #5 will follow the young Holly five years later. I still have #4 to listen to. Nice to have them both to look forward to.

A Quiet Morning Away

I took this at Kes's request this morning. We  had a lovely birdy outing up in north Portland and this sculpture was near the visitor's center at the Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. Right in the heart of the industrial area is this oasis. Gorgeous 30 bird flocks of white pelicans in flight as well as more egrets then any of have seen in one place ever. It all worked out perfectly.

Here is a link to the new bird cast site from eBird. Cornell is doing such great stuff with citizen science these days... wonderful.

Into the Woods

Ah the woods. Last week I finished listening to the audiobook version of Tana French's  In the Woods. Just marvelous. Dark and funny and beautifully written.  I'm reading the next in the series in e-book format. And that is what I would like to be doing right now instead of drawing next week's yoga class but..oh well. After.

I actually have a real link today. Have been taking care of both the cats and myself and that hasn't left much time for web surfing.

There is a new Citizen Science project put on by Audubon for recording information about Hummingbirds here on our continent. You can get as involved as you like. One siting or commit to more. They are particularly interested in how climate change is affecting the amazing little birds...

Respite Care

Smoke and marine air made the Columbia River Gorge hazy today. But still, the elevation was exhilarating and well earned this morning. We are moving into fall and more photo ops will present themselves as we do.

It was very nice to have a day off from work after all the stress of the last few weeks.

We are all hanging in there for the moment. :)

The Healing Field

So yesterday I had the rest of a rather large atypical mole removed from my upper back. I'd had part of it out a few weeks ago and the pathologist recommended that it was best to have the whole thing removed. I got a little woozy during the first procedure so this time they gave me drugs.

Wonderful useful drugs. And so last night I was a little ummm, well, drugged and found myself listening to The Infinite Monkey Cage episode from about a month ago on Quantum Cosmology.

Ha! I kept falling asleep. But after three tries and a listen today I managed to hear the whole thing. Even if I maybe understood about 5%. It was fun though. :) And I'm healing nicely. Maybe it was the proximity to the Glastonbury Healing Field?

A Little Long in the Tooth?

I just took this shot a few blocks from home. The hydrangeas, just like the summer, are getting long in the tooth but this one is in a shady spot.

Poor Stella had a bit of a challenging day today but she is hanging in there and sitting here with me. Laptops are still pretty darn cool when one thinks of all one can do.... Even my 3 year old MacBook Pro is hanging in there. (Of course the trackpad doesn't work so great but everything else does.)

Here is a link to this great  document of abandoned building in Detroit. Wow. I could just dive right in. Melancholy and beautiful.

Nice Color Mix

Interview about the moral dilemmas for aging Quadriplegics. This is the couple on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine last week.

Long week. Lots of lovely weather here though.

Imperfect shot. Lovely color mix though.

Better 2.1

This is my favorite kind of dahlia. I am not crazy about the spiky rolled petal ones that remind me of chrysanthemums. I took this Sunday over in a garden in NE Portland.

Things in general have been better today. Though there is always a balance isn't there? As Stella feels a little better and is a bit more stable my Sam the man, the perfectly proportioned orange cat is not feeling well at all.

I still need to go out and wander around the track in the cool of the evening and listen to the audio book of The Woman Upstairs.

The Dahlias are Here

The dahlias are blooming here now in Portland and fall is everywhere in the air. We have slipped off the relentless climate change track for a respite into typical summer weather. Misty drizzly gloom in the mornings burning off in the afternoons.

As I am struggling with anxiety this week for a number of reasons I found this letter and it's attendant article helpful.

Listening to the writer Tomi Ungerer talk about what it was like growing up in occupied Alsace during the war he says it wasn't the fear so much as the constant anxiety that was problematic.

We aren't at war! At least not here at home. Sometimes... she says...shaking her head.

Better Late than...

I took this yesterday I think. It is a late rose I can see right this minute looking out my bedroom window into the twilight.

Last night I splurged and bought a one year digital subscription to National Geographic. I wanted to read the article on the history of humans and sugar.

As if I didn't have enough to read!

It is a real roller coaster with Stella's well being right now. Not so good earlier today but better this evening. She ate (Sam's wet food) and I got the anti-nausea medicine down her and she isn't hiding anymore. Well, not hiding, at least when she is sure I am not coming after her with a pill or some other odious thing...

Bike Crazy

I took this photo from my phone at the art museum yesterday. It is of the new blue (very blue) bike racks they have installed.

All the bike geeks are as fun to watch at the cool Cyclepedia Iconic Bicycle Design exhibit as the bikes themselves that are hung on wires and come to you on a moving track. The exhibit has a wonderful energy about it. The new director is doing good things me thinks.

I look forward to having Most Honorable explain all the special features of the bikes to me when we go together to see it.

Chokes

I read this blog post about Natural Carpet Cleaning Technique earlier this week and tried it tonight. I did one thing differently and vacuumed up the excess paste pretty much after I spread it on the stains with a cheap pastry brush. Then scrubbed with a dry stiff brush and went for a 20 minute walk.

When I came back I used warm water and a washcloth and washed and rinsed all the stains. In the morning I'll vacuum again. There seems to be some concern about cats and borax so I don't think I'll do this often but I am pretty motivated to get the bulk of the stains up.

Poor Stella and her digestive troubles. I think we are through the worst of this most recent bout.

In other news I had a weirdly productive and cheerful workday. I had a lunch break and clocked out pretty much on time. Wow.

Better

Things are better today.

Stella is doing well and the sun is shining and I was able to get to the gym midday.

My test results came back showing I have a healthy heart and am fit. I do have a lower than normal heart rate though, but no funky patterns or irregularity. That is just awesome.

I am procrastinating working on poems to submit for the Master Class on finishing poems I am taking in a couple of weeks. I am trying not to get too spun out about it and just notice the fact of it.

We closed the fiscal year this morning at work on time. There will be a bit of a break in the intensity for a time and I am thrilled about that plus they have lifted the hiring freeze in general and that is very good news for all of us.

This wonderfully done piece and video about the young man that became famous after the iconic photo that I did see the day of the Boston Marathon bombing made me cry. But in a good way. The video is about five minutes long and worth a look.

Cat Related Challenges

The Blues Festival is wrapping up here as the clouds move into the valley after a pretty afternoon.

I took this yesterday down in Salem.

Poor Stella threw up again today, midday. She didn't eat her anti-nausea med last night after all. Darn it.

And Kelly, my cat sitter, stuck herself with a needle this afternoon. She was distracted and not wearing her glasses and those sub q fluid giving needles are big.

Oh well. I guess one needs the challenges to keep the good days in perspective.

A Very Vera Day

A quiet holiday here at Chez Noko. I took this on my afternoon walk about the neighborhood after taking a nap and reading the third in the Vera Stanhope series of books by Ann Cleeves. The show, which I have on DVD is in different order than the books. So I am finishing the third book but it is the first in the television series. Apparently they call bird banding, ringing in the U.K.

My link today is about a new study on exercise and anxiety. So it is not just my Buddhist and Yogic training that lets me recover quickly from my frequent fits of anxiety brought on by work...it is also exercise.

I did dead lifts at the gym today. Haven't done those in a few years. I think I'll return to modest weight lifting when I retire. Hopefully all the exercise I do in the meantime will help me get to retirement age in relatively decent shape. I received my 25 lbs. lost charm at Weight Watchers last night. So I seem to be on the right track. (No test results yet on wearing the monitor.)

Tomorrow morning I get electrodes taped to my chest attached to a Holter monitor that I need to wear for 48 hours to check if the fact that I am having these episodes of shaky sweaty discomfort sometimes when I work out might be connected to the reason I can't run without my heart rate spiking mightily. 

My yoga teacher and my family all think I am nuts to even think about running but I was a pony in a former life so excuse me.

I can't help the desire.

Anyway, just in case the test is inconclusive I found this article on walking after a meal and I am sold on the science. It makes such perfect sense. 

It is muggy here and apparently we are in for a few days of this. Oh well. At least it is not cold. I won't be able to take a shower for the time I have the monitor on. That will be interesting. 

So here is the fun Boomer post about Weight Watchers from the Times. You may not "get" it if you don't go to meetings.

There is a rare Catholic Church downtown near Portland State and they have a parking lot and surrounding the parking lot the priests tend to this wonderful mixed garden stretch.

I talked to the young man in my building last night that has planted a thriving vegetable garden in the vacant lot next door. He says his green beans are very fruitful this year.

The early hollyhocks grow like weeds here  They come in colors I find it difficult to describe.

With Most Honorable's help I was able to get an audiobook on my mini iPod so I am listening to The Woman Upstairs while I workout. An angry and self delusional woman is just the ticket fot working out.

The blackberries, blueberries and raspberries from the farmer's market are such a treat at the end of a long fiscal yearend day.

Another phone photo. We surely are moving into summer.

We went out to Buxton and walked a few miles on the Banks-Veronia State trail within Stub Stewart State Park. We took a detour and hiked up South Caddywhomper Way. Up being the operative word there. We had lunch up top on a bench with a view of some trees and clouds.

The plan is to eventually take the bikes out there. It is mixed use, a nice smooth ride. We hardly saw anyone while we were on the trails. We had some rain but not steady and so it was manageable even with bare legs and wet socks.

It was a nice way to spend one's birthday and I am most appreciative.

No if we can get the little plumbing problem that has cropped up here this evening fixed we'll be good.

I am trying pictures from the phone here. A late late rose just a few days ago. The rain is coming in tonight. The typical June rain. Oh well. I am taking the day off tomorrow anyway and Most Honorable and I (both work weary) are going for a hike for my birthday.

My broad brimmed rain hat is ready and so am I.

Today my students asked if I would teach the same class again on Thursdays. Something to think about. I wonder if I would get more students or less teaching twice a week?

Anybody know anything about curcumin for arthritis? I actually eat a fair amount of turmeric, which makes sense because I love ginger but probably not enough to be anti-inflamatory in any sort of consistent way.

Oh well. The fabulous massage I had on Saturday made my knee all better anyway. :)

I walked around the track this morning in the glare filled gloom before spinning off to the long walk up Terwilliger to the Chart House like some meteorite getting enough momentum to spin out of the atmosphere without burning up.

These gorgeous transplants from southern climes are just starting to bloom near the track.

The cover review for the Book Review this week is...What Do Women Want? Adventures in the Science of Female Desire By Daniel Bergner.

A short interview with him leads the Book Review podacst this week (June 16, 2013). Much interesting discussion about the whole topic has taken place in my world since the excerpt hit the Magazine a few weeks ago. That was mostly about the development of drugs to enhance a woman's desire. You know, when you start talking about the nature of desire, it doesn't take long to get to what it means to be human.

Darn provocative is what this all is...

Back to the flowers again.

I tried writing a poem today. It is all a bit rusty, the mechanism, but the will is there. I'll read it tomorrow night and it will be fine. They won't boo me and at least it is fresh.

Listening to the Book Review podcast I heard about this remarkable new novel. The first time author Anthony Mara says "One day I looked up the definition of life in a medical dictionary and found a surprisingly poetic entry: “A constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.” As biological life is structured as a constellation of six phenomena..."

I have so many audible credits I ordered a copy of the audio book right away and have been listening (and eating cherries) all afternoon.

On Wednesday evening I was waiting for a bus and looking at my phone and I realized the light was blue. So I took this picture.

Some days are just blue.

The cats are both restless and not feeling well.

But I am already enjoying the weekend. Ah.

The hydrangeas are coming on! Amazing things that the sun brings on. Did I mention the sun is out? In June! Is this Portland? Oregon?

Forgive me for posting this link but with two older but still adorable cats in the house I couldn't resist the Cutest Kitten Contest. It is Simon's Cat after all...

Don't tell anyone but I think its almost summer!

Took this yesterday evening. The wet air was full of the scent of roses.

I am procrastinating on my yoga sequence for class next week and the yoga blog entry that will go with it. It is the way of holiday weekends.

Saw a gorgeous woodpecker today on my long walk up Terwilliger. It had to be a Red-Breasted Sapsucker because of the elongated white patch across the wing and the whole head was red. A first so close to home!

Here is the link for the 7-minute workout from the May 12th New York Times Magazine.

According to the weather reports, this afternoon and evening were the last time one is going to be able to go out without a coat and in sandals for, well, weeks.

I took full advantage and had an iced green tea in the sun while waiting for my dentist appointment and then after I did my shopping I walked the long walk up to the Chart House.

It was lovely, particularly when the traffic calmed down and one could hear the birds in the parkway.

The weather. It is the story these days isn't it? Those tornadoes are in Oklahoma are frightening.

Poor Stella thew up again last night. Something about this round of kitty infirmities is pushing me over the edge into a world of emotional exhaustion. For too long, making too many decisions on my own that seem freighted with the responsibility of a care taker.

I am beginning to think this is the real reason folks couple up. To share the decisions.

The physical exhaustion I can deal with and spiritually I believe there are some answers to the sense of feeling separate or isolated that my current work situation fosters so deeply but what do I do about the emotional exhaustion?

We did finally get a break it the oppressive cool gloom late in the day and tomorrow is supposed to be just lovely. I am looking forward to that.

We didn't actually have anything but glare filled damp gloom today so I am glad I got this shot a few days ago. The iris were pretty spectacular here this year and I am sad to see their time pass.

I am missing the season finale of Doctor Who right now but I haven't been watching much of anything lately. I've been listening to audiobooks and reading mysteries and thinking about yoga instead.

Fingers crossed Stella can make it through a second night without throwing up.

Here is an interesting blog full of cool found things.

So this is the iris bud shot I took that looks a bit like it is from another planet and alive. I got distracted by that red tea rose yesterday. I took this picture outside last weekend and used my somewhat rumpled light diffuser as a background. If I do say so myself, and I will because this is my blog, its is a very cool picture.

My link today is the first in the series on yoga for older folks in the NYT's. William Broad interviewed this doctor for his Science of Yoga book. This is the doctor who used headstand to cure his own rotator cuff injury. Please don't try that at home folks! The 2nd part was just published this week here.

I am going to think deeply about all I read here before I change any of my teaching techniques. It is an unfolding story. I noticed Leslie Kaminoff (my Yoga Anatomy go to guy) asked a question in the 2nd part. All very interesting.