A Departure from the Norm

I had a fabulous all-afternoon meeting today. There's a group here in Portland that are in the beginning stages of developing a botanical garden. Much needed, long overdue. I stumbled into the group just two days ago and today we had the first meeting of the Operations Team today (of which I am one). It's a super fit for me, with my background in horticultural therapy and higher education - so I can bring a lot of support to the table. What an amazing group of people...all plant nerds! I'm so happy to be involved!

But that's all an excuse for taking a blip on my way home in the car. I knew it would be too dark by the time I got home, so took advantage of the stop and go traffic on one of Portland's twelve bridges. This one is called the Fremont Bridge and spans the Willamette River, which bisects the east and west sides of Portland. It carries traffic from Interstate 5 (which goes to Washington and California) as well as other traffic which can slow to a mere crawl during rush hour. Built in 1973, it is the longest bridge in Oregon, and the longest tied arch bridge in the world. I've added it to the map if you're interested. 

Fortunately, due to its design, it won't sustain major damage in an earthquake, although the approaches might. Can't help but think about those things when you're stuck in traffic at the top. At any rate, I thought this photo was more interesting than the shot of my Christmas Cactus blooming for the 2nd time :-)