Time of run: 5:30 pm
Temp: 50 degrees F (feels like 50)
Conditions: Slightly overcast, winds 0 mph
Distance: 2.3 miles out, 1.6 miles back (3.9 miles total)
Just what I needed: MUCH shorter run than last week's 12 miler, warm (for February), and absolutely NO wind. And this run was critically different in another pleasing way: Sidewalks almost the whole way, whereas last week had me running a a long stretch of Halsey with just a narrow dirt shoulder to manage in the rain.
Starting at the Fairview-Columbia Branch, I headed north and east on Halsey, accidentally passing my turn down to Arata, making the run just slightly longer. The last mile was a pretty steep climb up some side roads, but I made it OK, and soon came to the cute little Troutdale branch located in a cute little mall area.
I went to the small CD section and soon found three albums that caught my attention due to their cover art: Swedish pop group Those Dancing Days, folk/psych solo artist Matthias Hellberg, also from Sweden (and former member of hard rocking Hellacopters), and a compilation by alt-rock 90s indie faves Pavement:
On the way out I noted some cool looking chairs for the patrons to sit in and read, and as I stepped outside, I was treated to a beautiful orange-blue sunset:
As I headed down Glisan St into the Wood Village neighborhood, there were more treats in store: A gradual downhill decline for easy running, a nice sidewalk, some impressive new houses, and more picturesque views to the west and north:
As I approached the neighborhood of the Fairview-Columbia Branch, there were some cool street lights to brighten my entrance. Nice little area here, new development but with a retro feel (sorry, no pics of the houses as it was too dark).
There's a distinct point where east Portland ends and Fairview begins (about 201st Avenue) and the scenery abruptly shifts from run-down, nearly abandoned, to shiny new and safer feeling (though I did note several police cars buzzing about at several points during the run). As gentrification spreads east from downtown Portland, it feels like just a matter of time before these two forces meet in the middle. Where will the cheap apartments be found then? (Yeah, I'm fully aware of my civic ignorance. I'm running a narrow strip of main roads between two library points at a time. Not exactly a "big picture" view. But still, sometimes the transitions on foot are pretty stark.)
Hey, I've reached the easternmost point of the Multnomah County Library system! Time to turn around and head back toward downtown.
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As for last week's CDs: The One eskimO was an interesting one...a bit James Blunt in the vocals but very smooth and nice. Quiet but intense. Wouldn't you know it, the song that caught my ear the most was a cover, of Candi Staton's soulful rendition of a Patsy Cline original. All three have their merits.
As for the Nick Moss CD, Here I Am, well, it's really good blues rock (and I love the labyrinth cover art). Nothing really revolutionary, but the title track was pretty raucous, combining blues with more straight-up rocking, which was very nice. I would've loved to put a video/song link to it, but couldn't find one on the 'net. Here's a live track from the same year of the album (2011) which shows what he's all about though:
