poignancy

 

The "lost items" -- a baby shoe, teddy bear, glasses, a suitcase, a broken violin -- strewn along a cobblestone walk leading the Oregon Holocaust Memorial evoke a sense of sadness. Built in 2004, the back wall of the memorial is engraved with the names of people who died in the camps, followed by the names of their surviving relatives in Oregon. The memorial features a stone bench beside an area simulating a town square. During the Holocaust, many Jewish families were gathered in town squares before being loaded onto trains and taken to concentration camps. The cobblestone walkway with inlaid granite bars, simulating railroad tracks, leads to a wall of history panels. At the end of the wall is the soil vault panel with interred soil and ash from six killing-center camps of the Holocaust - Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

 

I have visited Holocaust Memorials in various states but this one brought chills like those experienced when I visited Dachau.

 

Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future. -- Elie Wiesel

Oregon Holocaust Memorial
Portland, Oregon
10.16.2014

Elie Wiesel

remember to reset your sundial

 

Daylight savings time ends tonight and we're back on "regular" time -- perhaps not to be confused with solar time as measured by sundials.

 

International Rose Test Garden

Portland, Oregon

10.16.2014

trick or treat!

 

What do zombies and other ghouls want for Halloween?  Voodoo doughnuts, of course.  This popular Portland delicacy is widely known.  We were at the original location in Old Town; the shops are open 24/7 and there was a line out the door at 4:00 p.m. so unfortunately, I've yet to sample a Voodoo doughnut!

 

Voodoo Doughnut

Portland, Oregon

10.14.2014

sitting duck

 

During my recent visit to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden we were told that the wood ducks were especially photogenic (even if anti-social!).  Problem is I don't know one quack from another!  The wood ducks, the ruddy ducks, the mallards...pretty much the same to me.  I'd introduce you but I don't know "her" name!

 

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

Portland, Oregon

10.13.2014

Austin's west coast cousin

shades of blue

 

Crown Point promontory was the ideal site to view the sunset over the Columbia River; however, tonight clouds obscured the sun.  Located 733 feet above the river, the view is spectacular..  Atop the summit is Vista House built as a rest stop in 1918 for travelers on the old Columbia River Gorge Highway.

columbia river

 

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest.  My hotel faces the river with Washington State in view across the river.  Dinner tonight was at Salty's on the river, nestled between the various yacht clubs.

 

Salt's

3839 N. E. Marina Drive

Portland, Oregon