3287.
A bridge opening day is a day for people as much for the bridge … if only that you're not going to get annihilated by a car. When I was a kid, and I asked the perennial "When is it Kid's Day?" of my Mother on or around Mother's Day, I got the answer "Every other day is Kid's Day".
Well, every other day on the Sellwood Bridge is Car Day. Today, it's People's Day. And, to prove it, here are some people …
Some people who play in a group called the Transcendental Brass Band…
Some people who want to cross the road at the west end of the Sellwood Bridge, with a people who is as crisp and efficient as she was friendly …
Some people who were friendly, affectionate, knee-high, furry, and liked a scritch behind the ears …
… a throng of people, dogs, and bikes, who were enjoying a bit of history and a day which was, not long before, a late February Oregon rain …
The dog people and their dogs were out in force today. You may have heard that Portland has, in its way, gone to the dogs, and that's true from what we saw. They were all terribly nice, well behaved and friendly.
So were the people.
Here's a people who seemed to be gathering signatures for one of Oregon's relentless petitions. Jaded me, I didn't press in for a signature (with the recent history of signature gathering organizations in Oregon, which isn't as nice as it should be, I find out my issue and then go looking for the petition), but he seemed nice enough and stayed unguarded long enough for me to get a moment in his time:
If you really want to feel connected to others in that way we really all are, go to a place like this and look beyond yourself, and you'll realize that the people around you are, in an essential way, just as you are … a human with wants and needs, fears and hopes, bad days and good, ambition and laziness and wins and losses. I started to feel that then, and every time I look at these pictures, the feeling touches me back.
There were important and inspiring people. I was fortunate enough to nearly bump into Chuck Currie and his family and his dog saying hi to our U.S. Senator, Jeff Merkley …
And, just the other side of them, Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputy Taber, and I don't care what anybody says, this dude had the awesomest hair of anyone there (and, I just now noticed, there's Chuck and Senator Jeff behind him …
Deputy Taber's colleague, Deputy Cortana, was just plain cool as well.
We Portlanders are attentive, too. With the city as a background we gave our focus to the dignitaries that were there …
… and, while the oration was actually rather good, the highlight, and the reason I wish I had sound recording, was this guy:
… who one should recognize as City Commissioner Steve Novick, who was by far the most entertaining, bringing his trademark wit to bear and, noting that while 80 per cent of the trips over the Sellwood originated in Clackamas County, not one spondulix of construction money came from there, made a full throated call for invading Clackamas County and occupying it until the proper tribute was paid … and then admitted that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, as they had many more guns than we did.
Hey, we're Portland. We roll peacefully, yo. Haters gonna hate.
The next two pictures … this one …
… and this one …
… just speak for themselves, I think. The city and the people who make it up, without whom Portland would just be a collection of extremely attractive and well-made buildings. They are we and we are us and we are at a fortunate moment in time, we Portlanders, I think. This time is fraught with anxiety and despair for those who are struggling and maybe for everyone else too but something about the moment made the impression upon me that everything is still possible, even in these times.
In a city where some of the residents dress as bridges, what can't we do together?
Well, every other day on the Sellwood Bridge is Car Day. Today, it's People's Day. And, to prove it, here are some people …
Some people who play in a group called the Transcendental Brass Band…
Some people who want to cross the road at the west end of the Sellwood Bridge, with a people who is as crisp and efficient as she was friendly …
Some people who were friendly, affectionate, knee-high, furry, and liked a scritch behind the ears …
… a throng of people, dogs, and bikes, who were enjoying a bit of history and a day which was, not long before, a late February Oregon rain …
The dog people and their dogs were out in force today. You may have heard that Portland has, in its way, gone to the dogs, and that's true from what we saw. They were all terribly nice, well behaved and friendly.
So were the people.
Here's a people who seemed to be gathering signatures for one of Oregon's relentless petitions. Jaded me, I didn't press in for a signature (with the recent history of signature gathering organizations in Oregon, which isn't as nice as it should be, I find out my issue and then go looking for the petition), but he seemed nice enough and stayed unguarded long enough for me to get a moment in his time:
If you really want to feel connected to others in that way we really all are, go to a place like this and look beyond yourself, and you'll realize that the people around you are, in an essential way, just as you are … a human with wants and needs, fears and hopes, bad days and good, ambition and laziness and wins and losses. I started to feel that then, and every time I look at these pictures, the feeling touches me back.
There were important and inspiring people. I was fortunate enough to nearly bump into Chuck Currie and his family and his dog saying hi to our U.S. Senator, Jeff Merkley …
And, just the other side of them, Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputy Taber, and I don't care what anybody says, this dude had the awesomest hair of anyone there (and, I just now noticed, there's Chuck and Senator Jeff behind him …
Deputy Taber's colleague, Deputy Cortana, was just plain cool as well.
We Portlanders are attentive, too. With the city as a background we gave our focus to the dignitaries that were there …
… and, while the oration was actually rather good, the highlight, and the reason I wish I had sound recording, was this guy:
… who one should recognize as City Commissioner Steve Novick, who was by far the most entertaining, bringing his trademark wit to bear and, noting that while 80 per cent of the trips over the Sellwood originated in Clackamas County, not one spondulix of construction money came from there, made a full throated call for invading Clackamas County and occupying it until the proper tribute was paid … and then admitted that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, as they had many more guns than we did.
Hey, we're Portland. We roll peacefully, yo. Haters gonna hate.
The next two pictures … this one …
… and this one …
… just speak for themselves, I think. The city and the people who make it up, without whom Portland would just be a collection of extremely attractive and well-made buildings. They are we and we are us and we are at a fortunate moment in time, we Portlanders, I think. This time is fraught with anxiety and despair for those who are struggling and maybe for everyone else too but something about the moment made the impression upon me that everything is still possible, even in these times.
In a city where some of the residents dress as bridges, what can't we do together?
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