Howell Territorial Park expedition

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Today's thrilling adventure takes us back to Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island. I previously posted some photos of apples and hydrangeas taken there, but I haven't gotten around to doing a post on the park as a whole. I think the big reason for this is that the park preserves a historic pioneer-era farm and farmhouse, and I just don't find pioneer history all that compelling. I mean, our local creation story is basically the tale of some farmers looking for better farmland, and traveling a long way to get it. I mean, it's not exactly a Viking saga full of swords and dragons, or a legend about being descended from a moon goddess, even if we do have our own video game. Other than surviving the long journey, I'm not aware that any pioneers really did or said anything particularly fascinating. If any of them kept scandalous secret diaries, they haven't surfaced yet. And then there's the small matter of what happened to the previous human population when settlers showed up.

If you're wondering why I visited at all, I was visiting Sauvie Island to take a few photos of the new bridge (which I haven't quite posted yet), and I made a side trip to wander around Wapato Greenway for a bit. So since I was in the area, I though I'd take a look at this park too.

If you do happen to be a pioneer history nut, sadly the park doesn't offer much in the way of attractions. You'd think that it would, but it doesn't. The historic Bybee-Howell farmhouse is empty and closed to the public. I assume that's due to lack of funds, because this is Oregon and everything chronically lacks funds. I took a couple of photos peeking through various windows, but they aren't very interesting photos. The old orchard is a bit more interesting, as it apparently preserves a number of rare heirloom apple varieties. I've read that there's also an old rose garden somewhere on the grounds as well, although they weren't blooming when I visited so I don't have any photos of that. There's a little info about the grounds here, but I haven't come across anything resembling a guide to the place or even just a list of what's here.

The grounds are home to a sculpture titled Herons, by Portland artist Tom Hardy. This is according to a post at the Portland Public Art blog. I initially knew nothing about this thing, since there doesn't seem to be a sign giving the name or artist on the sculpture itself, or anywhere nearby, or on Metro's web page about the park for that matter. The State Archives has a photo of it, but no further info beyond that, not even a name. So apparently I'm not the only one who's been stymied by the lack of signage.

The park does get a quick mention in a 2000 New York Times article going on about the wonders of Sauvie Island. No, seriously. It's a good article, it's just kind of weird that it showed up in a New York newspaper. I didn't realize the NYT was already stalking Portland back then, but apparently so. Just as a quick factoid for you, it seems that Sauvie Island is 40% larger than Manhattan (33 square miles vs. 23), and has just 1/1000 of the population.

For those of a more wonkish bent, I did find Metro's 1997 Master Plan for the park, as well as a 2000 conditional use permit from Multnomah County basically signing off on the master plan. It's not clear how much of this plan was ever implemented, though. The proposed expansion of visitor facilities doesn't seem to have panned out, at any rate. No gift shop, no overnight guest accomodations, not even a convenient source of coffee, which is just uncivilized.

Floribunda

It's time for another episode in our occasional tour of Transit Mall art. Today we're on SW 5th Avenue near the corner of Stark St., home to one of the smaller works in TriMet's collection. This is Floribunda, which TriMet's Green Line public art guide describes thusly:

Floribunda, 1998

ARTIST

Mark Calderon

LOCATION

On 5th Avenue, between Stark and Washington streets

DESCRIPTION

Floribunda, one of a series of works Mark Calderon made in the late nineties, was inspired by the hairstyles found in Japanese Buddhist sculpture of the 12th and 13th centuries. Floribunda is the only free-standing work from this series, and the design and pattern of the hairstyle envelops the entire form, creating a finished work that is quite abstract.

I like to think I'm a reasonably imaginative person, but without reading this I never would have suspected this was based on a hairstyle. And obscure cooking implement, perhaps, or maybe a teapot, or possibly a curling rock.



Well before TriMet purchased it, Floribunda featured in a 1999 gallery show in Seattle. The gallery page mentions an edition of 3, so the one pictured there may not be the same one that graces our city streets. You'll note that it's shown sitting right on the floor, so the pedestal here is a TriMet addition. I suppose it would have been a tripping hazard otherwise.

A Seattle Times article about the show admired it:

Though many of the pieces in this show are meant to be mounted on walls, one of the best works is "Floribunda," a rotund, cast bronze piece that sits on the floor like a huge pumpkin. Its surface is covered with perfectly symmetrical grooves like the shells of certain ocean crustaceans or some gourds. But, like a number of other pieces in this show, "Floribunda" has a neat "topknot" that seems to refer to a head.

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In 2009 the same gallery hosted another show of more recent works by Mr. Calderon. Photos & info about which can be found here and here.

star magnolia

After taking photos of this tree every spring for several years now, I think I've figured out what it is. I figured it was some sort of magnolia, but the petals were too long and skinny. I think we're looking at a star magnolia, if I'm not mistaken, which is a type of tree and not a Southern Sci-Fi movie. At least that's what I think the tree is. As always, feel free to correct me if I've ID'd it wrong or anything.

spider, tanner springs

As seen on the wall-o-rusty-rails at Tanner Springs. I should point out that these were taken with macro gear and the spider is shown much larger than actual size. I'm not a spider expert, and I can't identify the beastie shown here. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas about what it might be.

lichens, jamison square

Tiny lichens on the trunk of a nondescript little tree, along 11th Avenue next to Jamison Square.

The Flogger

Today's adventure takes us up to industrial Northwest Portland, to a parking lot at NW 25th & Vaughn, near the big ESCO steel mill. The statue shown here is The Flogger, by Frederic Littman (who also created "Joy (Pioneer Woman)" and "Farewell to Orpheus", among other works). In the past I've generally said that his style is not really my cup of tea. I think I've used the word "lumpy" before. But this one actually works. Here the style seems to convey power and motion and determination. So it's possible that it's not the style that I don't care for, it's that the style and subject matter often don't mesh like they do here.

The company's website has a photo of the statue on their 'about' page. An Oregonian article profiles the company, and interviews one executive who started out at the company as a flogger. At this point you're probably wondering what a flogger is. In the steel industry, I mean. It seems that when you mold molten steel into a form, you often end up with extra steel stuck to your new metal part. A flogger uses a sledgehammer to break the extra metal off of the molded part. whereas a grinder does basically the same thing, except with a grinding machine. I'm going to go ahead and guess that "grinder" is the next step up on the career ladder if you start as a flogger. It's fortunate that a career ladder exists, at least; outside of the steel industry, the word "flogger" on a resume could prove to be a hindrance. I mean, unless you're interviewing for a professional S&M gig or a job with the CIA, not that there's much of a difference between the two anymore.

This post is a bit of an experiment in that these are camera phone photos. I'm not sure I've used phone photos here before except as a novelty, DSLR snob that I am. But these seemed to turn out OK, and uploading to Flickr instead of Twitpic seems to result in better image quality. The 40D is still obviously the high quality option, but it would be nice not to have to lug a big camera around quite so much. I say this as someone who turned mumble-mumble years old in December and whose lower back tried to seize up this morning as he jogged across the street to avoid traffic, while lugging -- you guessed it -- a big hefty camera bag.

Focus Fountain

Here's another of the swanky new fountains at CityCenter in Las Vegas. A press release about CityCenter fountains describes it:

Along the outer entrance circle rises Focus, an expansive, 270-foot-long curved water wall made of highly textured stone. Focus emphasizes the ever-changing, choreographed patterns that effortlessly sweep across the immense length and height of the wall. The all-enveloping water flow creates an ocean-like timbre that calms the area leading to ARIA’s lobby.

The water also cools the air outside the entrance, which is nice if you're standing outside in the 115 degree sun waiting for a taxi. So it's, I hesitate to use the word practical because this is Las Vegas, and we're talking about a huge water feature in the middle of the Mojave Desert, located at the entrance to a ten billion dollar casino complex with its own monorail system. So I think utilitarian is probably out too. Functional? Is that a better word? Is there a better word?

It's still nice on a hot day, whatever you want to call it.