A Living Magazine - Day 89 - The Downtown and Its Buildings

At about 2:00 am I heard the pitter patter of rain on the tarp above me. I was so glad that I'd prepared and thought so much about the situation. For the first time on any journey, I'd truly beaten the rain. Although it was light and intermittent all night, I remained dry and all of my stuff was protected. 

Because the tarp was doubled up, the inside surface was completely dry. I'd even provided a small gutter at the bottom of the tarp to prevent too much water building up on the ground beside me, and to channel into a container if need be. 

I'd fallen behind by three posts now and needed to buck up. So, I packed everything but the tarp and headed downtown again by the same route described in the last post...

Under the freeway, looking east from Walnut Street.

Going straight to Starbucks, I worked straight from about 10:00 am to 3:30 pm. Two posts were up, leaving me only one behind; something I figured I'd be able to make up for the next day. I was too tired to finish the last one.

Rain had been forecast for the whole day, but it only really rained for about an hour while I was working. Still, I wanted to get back to my camp spot to see if it had held up. Truthfully speaking, I guess I just wanted to sit back and revel in my success. Ha!

The problem was I'd not been taking as many pictures. This was something I was very unsatisfied with, as I'd planned to always give a rich and numerous cache of pictures. It is something I'd done for months. Reads on the blog had fallen by 40% in this last week and I surmised that the lack of good pictures might be the reason, maybe combined with my being stuck in Spokane? Only YOU GUYS really know why--and no one's a'talkin. But, maybe I'm glad you haven't told me.

To begin making up for this picture deficit, I decided on this late afternoon to focus on buildings downtown as best I could, or at least until my energy gave out...

There are sky bridges everywhere. I've only been over one,

but they're kind of cool to see over nearly every street.

I'll bet Mike Thurlow could build something like this.

The sky looked ominous, but the rain was moving out of town.

It is hard to tell, but there are two ancient Egyptian heads on these pedestals.

Can you see what happened to the closer one? Reminds me of Napoleon

shooting off the nose of the Great Sphinx.

[Actually, the destruction to the Great Sphinx was wrought

way back in 1378 by a character named Mohammed Sa'im al-Dahr.]

I love this Masonic Temple. Every bit of it is covered with Latin and Greek styles.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes (which also hands out sandwiches for dinner).

A look down the walls of Riverside.

I included this next shot as an example of something I plan to do a photo post on: grates and planters. Why? Because it is such an extraordinarily boring subject, but they are so varied and in so many different conditions, that it actually becomes interesting--at least to me.

Someone told me that they make these so that the tree will

break them as it grows rather than be confined.

I like the intricate style of these condos. I'll bet their interiors have interesting shapes.

Don't know why I like this apartment building so much. I'm a sucker for the extensive use of glass.

This building says, "PVBLIC LIBRARY" on it, but I believe it is only for storing

law documents. I walked up to the door and saw metal detectors and

a sign saying that entry was "by appointment only". I ran away in fear.

Finally, I'd like to end with an artist I've already shown several times, Lisa Soranaka and some more of the works of her group under the Walnut Street Bridge...

Done by an outsider.

Apparently this is Lisa's relative.

And here are my two favorite images from the long painting that fills this west wall...

A serpent devours the egg of a very distraught mother bird-thing.

My favorite. Just study all that is going on here!

The gears at the top (shown in the larger picture a few posts back) are "connected" to the

train passing overhead. Seeing this, you begin to get the message behind this work.

Not really sure why I took this. I think I wanted it to look

like it was just a 2D wall, and the sky could be seen

through the windows on the other side?

I was worn out. The type of writing and publishing that I do - for me - is exhausting, intellectually and even physically. It's work that rivals long distance walking. Maybe it would be different for others. But, I tend to pour my focus into my work so intensely that it isn't just my mind that is involved but my whole body. It is hard to describe.

I took this because it looked like the power pole was holding the clouds open.

I was almost to Walnut Street, but I stopped by the Discount Grocery Store to get my daily meal first. I bought a pound of ham, a chunk of Gouda, hamburger buns, some sea weed snacks and a juice--all for less than $8.00. It was enough or three small sandwiches this night and three more the next day, with some extra buns for the ducks and geese--or to eat if I couldn't make more money. With my groceries packed up I continued my passage back to the creek. 

When I finally got to the campsite, I rested for a while and then couldn't help working on it further. Unlike writing, it was a relaxing kind of work. The sun went down at its appointed hour (now, at about 7:00 pm), but there was no big sudden drop in the light. The cloud cover caused a very gradual dimming. 

Strangely though, the clouds cleared out after sundown. If you are outside in the city, but under trees and unable to see a large portion of the sky, you'll notice a distinction between how the sky is illuminated at night and what it does during the day. During the day, a light sky means it is clear; a dark sky being cloud-filled. But at night, the dark sky happens only when it is clear. A light sky indicates an overcast, in that it is reflecting the light from the city back down, scattering it across the ground. Not a profound observation but a useful one.

I set down the "bedding" and crawled in for a long and peaceful night's rest.