Pen in Hand

I've taken up drawing again.
This is only the beginning of beginnings...

Portland: Moss in Epic Proportion

It it is not full-on springtime in the Berkshires just yet though there is promise of 70˚ weather for tomorrow and I am ready for it. Last Wednesday I returned from a week in Portland, OR, and got an early dose of Spring, as well as an enjoyable overdose of green moss, blooming flowers, endless waterfalls, and again, more moss. I have never experienced so much electric green moss in my entire life. It grows everywhere (literally), on trees (every tree), in gutters (along with ferns), even on cars (seeing is believing). Despite the gray skies, I found myself surrounded by vivid colors on every street corner. I learned that Portland is also home to amazing coffee shops, baked goods, people on bikes, vintage stores, and (for the moment) two of my most lovely friends Katie and Jess, of Otter Down and Dame de Fleur blogs, respectively.

Not moss, but another lovely ground-covering plant.

Camellia trees stood outside almost everyone's home with an abundance
of blossoms. They looked like painted rose bushes out of Alice in Wonderland,
some white and pink varieties even resembling unfinished paint jobs.

Click on the photo for a better view. I love geometry in nature.

I could see all of the cherry blossoms
in bloom as my plane flew in above the city.

To grandmother's house we go!

A colorful street.

In case you didn't believe me, moss grows everywhere.

Probably the greatest number of
periwinkle flowers I've ever seen at one time.

We didn't eat here, but the building is quite lovely.

Red balloons made the day complete.

Just another walk in the park.

There were so many cherry blossoms in bloom
I could see them from above as my plane few in.
Everything you need is right here.
Up and away we go.
Typical view from the car on the way to the waterfalls.



Ferns and moss grow everywhere.

Mossy cloaks of Elvin kind.
I want to move into these mountains.
Can you see my castle?
The long and winding road.
This post would have been incomplete without an
example of what we had for dinner after such adventures.