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Predicament: Portland Sands and its vicinity 9/2/2012 1:20:46 PM
Children, children everywhere. Some of them are jumping up and down the trampoline-like concoction while others wait in anticipation. Parents also wait but patiently, trying to entertain their little tots. Other kids jump and scream, cry and laugh as they meander through the maze of constructed sands on Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland’s living room. There is a band playing but no kids pay attention. They are all doing their own thing. The older kids are throwing a ball at the bulls eye to let the man sitting in an enclosed bath of water to fall into the bath while some other follow their parents go around the wooden walkways in between the sands. As for the old folks like me, well, we looked and be amazed by how those sands are fashioned in the most unique way – into beavers and octopus, snails and monsters on top of a tire, elephants and bridges.
I purposely went to this event because when hanging out at Starbucks and Greater Trumps are the only thing one does, it gets sometimes old. Besides, the day is wonderful! The air is fresh and the sky is completely cloudless and blue. I went early so that there were not much people, yet. I heard about it on the television. I am sure there are other events going around in Portland but this event took my fancy.
It took me about an hour and a half to circle the square. I circled it so many times that I begin to realize that children are its main audience. There really is nothing for me without a kid in tow, although there were folks who also did the circling. As I made an exit, I passed by the booths, but all they are, are booths exhibiting items for the kids.
So after my foray in Portland’s living room, I walked up Yamhill Street just to see what is on the next block. For sure, there must be something new there since I have not been to downtown for quite some time (at least in this part of town). I have been to Alder St. where the Westin Hotel is. After all, that was where I stayed every time I was visiting Portland before I bought my house. (I lived in Oakland, California for the past 28 years of my life; and I had a condo there at one point. Oakland is beautiful but the traffic and the headache of living in a crowded city got into me.) I bought my lunch at a food cart on Alder Street and I proceeded towards Director’s Park. It’s just behind the Nordstrom. I expected the park to be bone dry but to my amazement, it was teeming with water. Small little founts were everywhere. It was like Jamieson Square in the Pearl District but instead of a mini-waterfall flowing through its ramparts, Director’s Park has a pool-like setting where toddlers play wearing only their diapers. I took a seat on one of the tables and open up my lunch.
As I ate, I watched those cute little toddlers play and swim in ankle-deep water. That was a delight! Two boys were laughing and screaming and having the fun of their lives. Some toddler ventured across the water with some hesitancy while some others frolic with gusto. Some toddlers were more inquisitive. They tried to figure out why water spout out of the hole on the ground. They tried to prevent water to come out of the hole by stepping on the hole but the gush of water just continued on.
I gazed at the buildings that surround it. I remember that the tall skyscraper that was being built on the next block was stopped because of the recession. At the other end of the block is a hotel. On the park’s eastern front is Nordstrom, of course, a movie theater and a restaurant called Elephant. I ate there. It was a cool bistro stuffed with all sort of different items from here and abroad. On its western front, you could see dilapidated buildings ready for renewal.
And so I ended my half day satisfied. I packed up my lunch and went back to my car to go back to my old haunt, Hawthorne Street.
Portland is a cool place to visit. There are a lot of things to do in this city which is too big to be called a city but too small to be called a town. The city is both for people big and small. Portland is made up of simple events made grander by the town itself.
