15 Mar Eastbank Esplanade
This weekend we didn’t have much time for a hike away from the city, but we still wanted to get out of the house. There is also something nice about exploring your own city with purpose and intent. We went down to the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade, a beautiful mile and a half long stretch along Portland’s south waterfront. The addition of the new Tilikum Crossing (Portland’s ninth bridge) made us want to check out the area and see what was going on down there as of late. 
It is a beautiful bridge, for pedestrian use only, and we plan to use it regularly to get downtown. We are hoping to see it really vamp-up the area in the South East industrial area, which it seems to slowly be doing.
This wall was a cool minimal mosaic under the bridge, it was nice to see the city considering not only the bridge, but the area surrounding it as well. We continued to walk along to the public dock, which some of us never actually knew was accessible after living here for over five years! 
It was fun to get down right next to the water since the storm was just leaving the city and the water was still pretty rough and wild. We hung out there for a bit then decided to walk just past the Hawthorne bridge and turn back, though it was finally sunny it was still quite cold and windy out along the bank.
The Firehouse & Rescue building has a incredible side sculpture, something I also had never noticed about the area.
A side note about the issue of not-noticing:
I’ve recently been reading this book, On Looking: Eleven Walks With Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz, it is a fantastic read, and I greatly enjoyed this quote at the beginning of the book: ‘Right now, you are missing the vast majority of what is happening around you. You are missing the events unfolding in your body, in the distance, and right in front of you.’ Instead of being depressed by that idea, it made me thrilled for all the new possibilities I could be experiencing and paying attention to.
While going on our hikes recently, I try and really practice at truly seeing what is all around me, not just ambivalently looking. Another lovely quote within a quote from the book: ‘William James suggested that my experience will be “what I agree to attend to.”‘ and I whole-heartedly agree with the pair of them.
Now back to our walk.
We found this solo Trumpeter playing outside OMSI just across from these windows magnificently reflecting the sunset. It was a awesome moment to be apart of. We would love to give him this photo somehow- anyone know him? 
We still wanted to watch the sunset, so we climbed onto our rooftop to catch the last moments of it.
Even though it was a short outing, it was nice to explore and get to know the area around our own home better. Something we think everyone should do some more of.
See you on our next adventure- Escape Collective
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