Sasquatch, 2009

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I traveled over to wine country in Washington State in order to attend Sasquatch, 2009. This is a three day music festival that features several stages and lots of great bands. It is a beautiful, remote location, and the backdrop for the main stage is the Columbia River Gorge. The pictures below show the Dove's band, the crowds, and views of the gorge.

Portland Trivia

I have been doing a lot of research on Portland lately, and I have listed some of my findings below. I had pictures to post with these, but for some reason Blogger is not accepting them at the moment. I will try to post the pictures at a later date.

• At the top of Mt. Hood is the Palmer Glacier. Mt. Hood is 11, 239 ft. tall.
• Portland has the smallest park in the world, Mill Ends Park. It is two feet across and resides in the middle of a crosswalk on Front Street and Taylor. The land was set aside for a colony of Leprechauns.
  
• The now famous Nike swoosh logo was designed in 1964 by Carolyn Davidson, a University of Oregon Student. Supposedly, she was paid $35.00 for the design.
• Goose Hollow was an area of town/country where the women stayed home and raised geese while the husbands farmed or searched for gold. This area of the city is still referred to as Goose Hollow.
• Abraham Lincoln was supposed to be the territorial governor of Oregon, but he turned it down. His wife refused to move to the west coast and leave the eastern cities. What a life changing, and country changing, decision.
  
• Portland used to be known affectionately as "Stumptown." In fact, they used to whitewash the stumps in the road so that they would be more visible.
• The oldest piece of public art in Portland is the Skidmore Fountain, 1888. Skidmore was a druggist who left $5,000 in his will for the construction of the fountain. The total cost of construction was $18,000.
• The current Macy's store used to be a department store called Meier and Frank. Clark Gable sold ties there before he went to Hollywood and made it big in the movies.
• At the turn of the century, Portland had some incredible amusement parks. They were Coney Island's Dreamland, Luna Park, and Steeplechase Park. The pictures are very cool, and I want to research these a little more.
• Simon Benson was a timber baron and businessman who didn't approve of his laborers drinking alcohol during the day. In fact, he didn't like people drinking alcohol at all. Therefore, he gave the city enough money to construct 20 outdoor drinking fountains. He felt that people should be able to have free water throughout the city. His idea worked; beer consumption dropped by 25% in Portland the next year. Their are currently 40 Benson fountains in Portland, and one in Portland's sister city, Sapporo, Japan.
• Portland was almost named Boston. Asa Lovejoy and William Overton flipped a coin, and the name Portland won.
• The Shemanski Fountain is located between Madison and Salmon on the park blocks. Joseph Shemanski was a polish immigrant who ended up being a very successful businessman. He gave the city the fountain in 1926 because he wanted to "express in small measure of gratitude for what the city has down for me." One interesting feature of this fountain is the continuously running fountains and basins that are located near the sidewalk. These were constructed so that dogs and small animals could have a drink of water.
• The park block between Madison and Main is referred to as Lincoln Square. It sports a 10 foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln on a granite base.
  

Sights and Sounds

Below are pictures from the Portland Farmer's Market on Saturday, May 16th. I bought fresh strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and a zucchini.

Comfort Places

Recently, I have been feeling under the weather and a little down. Nothing major, just a normal cold. However, it was bad enough at times for me to retreat in my mind to my comfort places. You know the places I'm talking about. They are the ones that make you feel secure and calm when you are a little depressed or not feeling well. I have listed a few of my comfort places below:

1. Grandma and Grandpa's House. I used to love to stay at my grandparent's house when I was young. I can remember the feeling of stepping from a fresh shower after a day of working in the yard. My feet would sink in the newer carpet as I walked to theLa-Z-Boy and prepared for an Saturday evening of watching old black and white scary movies with grandma. Grandpa always went to sleep early, but that meant that in the morning I would probably wake up to the smell of fresh pumpkin bread. Grandpa made pumpkin bread all of the time and froze the extra loafs. Whenever anyone stopped by the house, grandpa would run to the freezer and give them a loaf to take home.

2. Wheat Fields. There is nothing better than standing out in the wheat fields or near the wheat fields on a hot, Western Kansas day. The wind hits the wheat and makes you feel like you are in an ocean with golden brown waves. The heat hits you and massages all of the tension out of your body.

3. St. John Vianney Seminary Chapel. My first year of college, I went to the seminary which was on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. The seminary had a small side chapel that students could use for daily meditation and reflection. It was very simple in design. All of the walls were white, and it had a couple of sky lights. I remember it being very peaceful and calm. Basically, it seemed like a nice big hug to a young college student several states away from home.

4. Leaf Cookies. This isn't really a place, but an item. When I was a kid and had been really sick, mom would make me leaf shaped sugar cookies. They had to be leaf shaped without frosting in order for the "healing" powers to take place. I don't know if it was the leaf cookies or just the realization that she loved me enough to do this special task just for me, but it definitely helped me to feel better.

I think that comfort places are important to have in this life. Let's face it, life can be pretty tough sometimes, and I think it is important to have more secure times to reflect on. Honestly, I think it is mentally healthy. I'm feeling a little better already. Darn cold. I wonder if there is a nearby bakery that makes leaf cookies?

Big Steel Bridge, Portland

Portland has some incredible bridges. The most beautiful is probably the St. John's Bridge, and the highest ones I think are the Interestate 5 Bridges. In places, they appear to be as high as a 30 story building.