It's Not Really That Bad Out Here, I Don't Care What The Sign Says

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Just south of SE Washington St, adjacent to Mall 205, the very short couplet that is SE 102nd Ave/SE 103rd Dr merge to form a short diagonal road called SE Cherry Blossom Drive with connections to SE 112th Avenue, Portland Adventist Hospital, SE Market Street and a range of places south, east, and west of there.

I put this in front of you because I noted, on my commute home, that the back of the sign has been creatively edited.

I have a number of issues, here.

The least of which is that the area this opens up into, a little, beige, bland, banal Portland neighborhood called Mill Park (which is my home: I'm a perfect fit!) is about as far away from Hell as can be. It would be, at best, the Gateway to Heck, or maybe the Gateway to Darn, the Portal to Shucky-Darns, or the Access to The Place Where They Ask You About Your Car's Extended Warranty.

Not really a fair cop here.

Another question that comes to mind is that this is actually the side of the sign that thanks you for coming, which really raises the question of whether or not Hell has revoked its formerly one-way policy and is now promoting package tours to make a few extra bucks.

It is that kind of age, after all. And things have gotten tough; after all, just before we out here settled the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, Fabric Depot up and went out of business on us.

Signs Of The Mill Park Times

3704My home neighborhood in Portland, Mill Park, is a pretty sedate and banal place. Or it seems that way. Below that we're just a hotbed of punk, I'll tell you.

Near my house there's this Lutheran church, Gethsemane by name, which has been communicating gentle messages during the emergency time. This was what they had today:

Now, I'll cop out an confession here; religion, as we practice it in America, despite the dogged efforts of those who would work for kindness, continues to bend toward rebuke and performative cruelty. This is not just blithe opinion on my part either; anyone of equitable view seeing the news these days must surely agree. However, this message, in this age of performative cruelty?

That's punk AF, my friends. And those Lutherans are pretty neat people.

Just down Market street, there's a big house on a big piece of land on the corner of Market and SE 113th. It may have been a farmhouse when the land out this way was farms, who knows. It's certainly old enough. And the property itself could be some sort of arboretum. And they usually have signs in their amazingly big front yard. And this is what they had when I drove past today:

Head and heart on the right place, and hands? They sure won't be voting GOP in November. These signs are bright and visible and they've changed over time, and nobody ever hassles them or steals them.

Punk AF.

And, on two stop signs, one at the corner of SE 117th and Market and 117th and Hawthorne Blvd, there are Trump stickers. Now, I react negatively to such things, and told the Brown Eyed Girl, but she pointed out that they actually read STOP TRUMP in that way.

Indeed.

So, if you come out 122nd and Market way, Mill Park, remember, we only look sedate and banal. But, just below that bland exterior, we're kind people who generally wish you well

Yeah, we're punk AF that way. Can you handle us?

Fence Charming on 117th

3689This delightful production, fencing off the front yard of a duplex about 200 feet north of Southeast Market Street on the east side of Southeast 117th Avenue:

Two frames with class, a patchwork of mismatched boards, just this cute, happy, delightful thing to look at.

Well, out here in Mill Park, we MacGyver stuff all the time. Making it fun comes at no extra charge.

Spiritual Hygiene Is Important In Days Of Covid

3688Actually, this may be something of an old joke by now, what with all our nerves shot by the ongoing pandemic-will-we-won't-we-open-up-and/or-contract-the-'rona, but if it's sweet enough for the Lutheran church around the corner (Gethsemane is located at SE 117th and Market), then it's good enough for us:

Also, think clean thoughts.