Pallet Stack

Stacks of pallets, like grown up Lego blocks.

3800

Random shot from a junkyard. If you can tell me what make / model of vehicle it came off of, you win... um... bragging rights?

Pow Wow

Native American dancer at the Pow Wow held on Pioneer Square this past weekend.

Steel Sunset

Portland's Steel Bridge at dusk. Fun fact to know and tell: This is one of the few (the only?) bridges featuring two levels that can raise independently of each other to allow boats of various heights to pass. (Our family got to see it in action just before this photo was taken the other night.)

Spike and Plate

Rusted plate and spike on a railroad track.

Pane

Broken window from an old train depot.

Lonely Stroll

Southeast Portland is rich in cultural diversity. It's not uncommon for our kids to hear three or four languages chattered about as they play at the park. And often there are some grandmotherly eastern European women strolling about.

Fire Flower

Petals like tongues of flame.

Pumpkin Flower

We have an abundance of pumpkin flowers in our mini-garden, but no pumpkins. =(

Tennis Anyone?

Rusty chain link fence around a tennis court at Grant Park in Portland.

Commerce

Art piece outside the Lloyd Center mall in Portland. Features a partial Ionian column stacked with oversized coins, each carved with a quote related to shopping or money. A commentary on our materialistic society?

Maters

Couple of ripe little guys still on the vine in our neighbor's garden.

Shingled

Just an interesting pattern of shingles.

Caged Candle

An imprisoned flame.

Riveted

Transfixed by patterns of rivets holding the Steel Bridge together across the Willamette River in Portland.

Heart of an Iris

Except for calla lilies, irises are probably my favorite flower. Yours?

Import Plaza

Color or black-and-white?

Sign from an old Import Plaza retail store at the corner of NW Couch and 1st Avenue in Old Town Portland.

Triple Steps

Stairs leading down to the lower walkway of the Steel Bridge across the Willamette River in Portland. Twin spires of the Convention Center in the background.

Four Chairs

An odd sign of hospitality on the front porch of an otherwise forlorn house.

Melon Eater

Bright eyes with a summertime snack.

Yellow and Silver Bug

A patched-together Volkswagon Beetle from down the street.

Juggler

A juggler vies for the attention of the crowds at Mt. Scott park. Part of the Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods event last month.

Island of the Sea Lions

Rocky island resort of barking sea lions and screeching gulls, complete with crashing waves and salty sea spray. Click the image for a larger view.

Claw

Empty shell of a crab claw. Exoskelotons are still one of the strangest things to me. Bones on the outside of a body. Weird, weird, weird. And the whole molting thing? What must that feel like?

Mine!

A gull in mid-squawk. Makes me think this clip from the animated movie "Finding Nemo" with all the gulls in a squawking chorus of "Mine-mine! Mine! Mine!".

Lion Around

Sleepy sea lion at Cape Arago on the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay. Couldn't believe how close we were able to get to this guy.

Summer Jump

A joyful jump into the ocean surf. This photo sums up our Labor Day weekend -- a memorable trip down the beautiful Oregon coast with plenty of stops at beaches along the way. Ahhhhhh.... summer. Please don't let it end.

P.S. If you haven't heard already, Google has released a beta version of Picasa 3.

• Need a super easy way to manage your pile of digital photos?
• Want to make some simple retouching without learning (or spending money on) Photoshop?
• Want a easy way to upload photos to your Blogger posts?

Picasa is worth the price -- FREE.

To answer your questions in advance:

• Yes, I use Picasa. Every cotton-pickin' day.
• No, I don't use it for photo editing, but I do think it's good for the average person (I use Photoshop).
• No, I don't worship at the altar of the omnipotent, omniscient Google -- even though I'm suckered in by all their freebies.
• Yes, Google will take over the world. But at least I'll have my photos in tidy little folders when they do.