My Phantasmagoric Neighborhood

Carolyn mentioned that she’d like to see me to use the word phantasmagoric. Never one to turn down a challenge, I eagerly accepted. However, when it came right down to brass tacks, e.g., using the word correctly in a blog post, it turned out I really didn't know what it means. I had to look it up. Fortunately, one of its meanings*, “a bizarre or fantastic combination, collection, or assemblage,” provides me (if I use it loosely) with the perfect opportunity to post some bizarre and fantastic photos of my neighborhood. I would have posted them last week had they not been edged out (as far as the phantasmagoric quotient goes) by mud wrestling at the Alberta Clown House.**

Believe it or not, these photos were all taken during the space of one evening walk. I do, indeed, live in a bizarre and fantastic neighborhood.



B and I do not understand this at all. As far as we can tell, someone has gone to great expense to jack up this very modest (to put it kindly) house, presumably, to add a basement to it. I’m sure that will make its value skyrocket. Not! If anyone knows what’s really going on here, do tell! I've not seen anything like it in all my born days.



OK. This is Portland. We drink coffee and beer here—not tea. This tea shop is always deserted. I guess they finally got the message and are making a last ditch effort to bring in some customers. I sincerely hope it works—it's a nice little place—but you have to admit, it does give the appearance of desperation.



Here’s something for the “fantastic” category. A cup of tiramisu gelato, which has long since joined the choir invisible.



Love is...stealing your lover’s stash of weed and feeling too paranoid to say you’re sorry.



I fear there was something terribly wrong with this raccoon. She was just lying on her back in the middle of someone’s yard—in broad daylight. We spoke briefly with the owners of that yard and they said she had been there all day. And she let me take half a dozen photos of her without attempting to protest or flee. Abby Normal. Very.



For Rusty,*** however, sleeping on his back with his vulnerable bits (not to mention his naughty bits) open to attack is not abby normal behavior, although it should be. He does this all the time. Bizarre.

*The other meanings of phantasmagoric are: 1) describing an exhibition or display of optical effects and illusions; 2) describing a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined; 3) describing a scene that constantly changes

**I promise I will allow at least a week to pass before I make any more references to the Alberta Clown House.

***Our very own personal kitty.