Clinton Street

June 17, 2025

With no scope for a real bike ride today because my day is split by a 12:50 dental appointment, I decide to get some miles in on my way to my 9AM coffee date with Bruce over at Clinton Street Coffeehouse. it's chilly still when I leave the apartment at 6:30, but nothing I'm not fine with wearing an extra layer. My plan is to bike the familiar loop south to the Sellwood Bridge and then back up the east side of the river to Tilikum Crossing before turning east to Clinton Street. I've got the Canon along, thinking my luck with birding should be better by being out so early in the morning.

I've passed through the lobby of our building a few dozen times now but somehow never noticed the mirror because I've got my eye focused on the door or the elevator. For some reason I caught my movement in the mirror out of the corner of my eye this morning.

The plan to go south goes south after exactly a half block when I get to ninth street and see that my path to the waterfront is blocked by a slow moving freight train. Now that we have a balcony overlooking these spots I've been timing them, and the one last night lasted ten minutes. I'm not going to stand around in the cold waiting for it to pass when I've got an easy alternative, so I decide to turn right and cross the river over the Broadway Bridge instead.

Some exciting early morning bird life as I bike up Lovejoy toward the Broadway Bridge.

My thinking is that I'll more or less reverse my loop, going south along the east side to the Sellwood Bridge then coming north along the west side and recrossing the river at Tilicum Crossing. I've still got birds on the brain, so I'm pleased to have four for the day already by the time I reach the bridge: house sparrow, American crow, Eurasian starling, rock pigeon. Good start!

But then I look around while I wait for the light to change, and the light changes everything. It's just the right time of morning, the golden hour, and the views all around are stunning. I'm not out often this early, and I should honor it by slowing down and taking in the show.

Looking south along the tracks past Union Station. The train on the left is the freighter that has Ninth Avenue blocked a quarter mile behind me.

The view toward downtown from the Broadway Bridge.

The Broadway Bridge again, from Interstate Avenue on the east side of the river.

So that puts me behind schedule enough that the Sellwood loop doesn't quite work any more. The coffee shop is open already, so when I come to the Hawthorne Bridge I turn east for it, biking up Hawthorne and then angling down through the Ladd Addition. It's really a delightful time to be riding, with me having the eastbound bike lane and the whole road nearly empty while the westbound one is busy with bikes and cars streaming into downtown during the morning rush hour.

It comes at a price though, because the sun is still low on the horizon and shining brightly in my eyes most of the way - almost enough that I stop and break out the Ray-Bans to cut the glare. It's a relief when I leave Hawthorne and angle southeast beneath the arbor-like streets of the Ladd Addition; but that's a challenge too as my eyes are constantly readjusting as I pass through alternating patches of sun and shade.

I make it to Clinton street about 7:30, lock up, and after I finish my first cup and a cinnamon-raisin bagel with peanut butter I turn to yesterday's post and wrap it up just before Bruce sits down opposite me, almost precisely at nine.

Clinton Street has become our default meeting spot, but this month there's a change - the two person table we used to sit at got replaced over the winter with a four seater that doesn't really work as well. So we're sitting at a different table which is likely to be the new standard post now. Might as well take a look.

Actually, I like this view better. It's nice seeing a window into the kitchen and out to Clinton Street. Also, for those that wondered: note that it's the tan Pendleton that's been lost, not the blue one.

We have the usual fine visit, but at some point Bruce turns to discussing the news from his garden. And the news is exciting - his Cardocrinium giganticum is in bloom! This lily-like plant (its common name is the Giant Himalayan lily, even though it's not actually a lily) is one I've never heard of but sounds remarkable as Bruce describes it. It grows to a great height - ten or fifteen feet - over the course of about seven years, when it finally blossoms and then dies. It immediately makes me think of century plants down in the southwest, when you just have to be lucky to see one in bloom.

And the exciting news? After seven years, it's time has come. So of course after coffee's done I bike over there while he walks home and then we have a short tour of the garden.

Cardocrinium giganticum, the giant Himalayan lily.

There are so many exceptional plants and objects in Bruce's garden, so we'll just look at a few today. This is the jasmine he planted thirty years ago.

And I didn't think to ask what the blossom is, because the main attraction is the new flower pot - a rusty coil he picked up recently at a yard sale.

By now I'm out of time though, because I have to head back to the neighborhood for my dentist appointment. Along the way I make a quick stop at Clever Cycles to pick up the GoPro mount so we can see some video on tomorrow's ride and then bike along the waterfront past the Fremont Bridge hoping to see a bird or two - and I do! A half dozen Canada geese, a junco and a song sparrow give me a whopping seven-count for the day.

And about the dental appointment, just because it's so stupid it's worth remembering. It's connected to my planned knee surgeries. You'll remember that I was told the waiting list is an appalling nine or ten months long - once I get on the list, that is. There are some prerequisites before I get added though, and one is this trip to the dentist. They need a form completed certifying that I don't have any oral infections that might complicate the surgery. And how much sense does that make to test for infections now, nearly a year before surgery? Zero sense, that's how much sense it makes. But I passed, and I'm on the list, and when I called Kaiser to let them know my homework was done I also discussed our travel plans and they made a note to give me a couple of months warning when I'm nearing the top of the list so we can plan accordingly.

This is the same grain terminal we see from our deck. Note the complete absence of birds on the water. In the winter there'd be cormorants and scaups.

Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 1,254 miles (2,018 km)

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Annette SchneiderI had a hip replacement a few years ago, and only had to indicate that I'd had no dental procedures 90 days prior to surgery. Now, any subsequent dental procedures, including cleaning, I'm prescribed an antibiotic (amoxicillin, 4 tabs) to take an hour prior to the appointment.
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4 days ago

Scott AndersonTo Annette SchneiderI imagine it will be something like that for me too. I just think that they haven't rethought the form to reflect the long waiting lists.
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4 days ago