Portland G

Green
Tuesday, January 10
This morning I go out without a plan. I have an errand to run--to pick up some herbs prescribed by my naturopath at the Natural Health Center. It is on the streetcar line so I walk the two blocks to my stop, noticing the various G's along the way. Signs, mostly: Garden, Goop, Grill, Gino's, Gasoline. Not knowing what I am looking for makes me more aware of my surroundings--the Portland Project is very subversive in that way. If you are at all like me, you give marginal attention to the things around you much of the time, with the majority of your awareness focused on thoughts--plans, worries, etc. Not that this is wrong, just wasteful sometimes.

On the streetcar I'm delighted at the connections with the last few days: I pass the 3D museum, Jamison Square, Powell's, and the library too. Then I notice a man with a green jacket get up and I think, "Green, that's a G". And I look out the window and something amazing happens. I see green all around: the streetsigns, the awnings, the lights, the ivy, even the leafless trees are covered in moss. The color pops out at me and I experience a similar sensation to what I felt at the 3D museum on Saturday. Through the frame of the streetcar window there seems to be two colors: Green and Gray. (In Minnesota, where I was last winter, I sometimes noted how, on overcast days, the world seemed to be painted in Gray and White.) As I ride along I'm aware of the green for a long time, the city seems to shimmer with it and the rain-streaked windows heighten this effect.

I pick up the herbs and walk back to the streetcar at 1st Av. The rain is really coming down now. Somewhere along the way I lose touch with the color and fall back into my thinking and before I know it, I am back home.