Per the yin-yang way of thinking, the ending of a chapter creates the space for a next chapter to begin. Novels jump around a lot more than real life, but then real life includes reading novels.
In this ending, or closing, in my role as a Wanderer (capital W, cuz it's a practice), I found myself up and out the door early, taking bus 75 to the Hollywood District (Portland's Hollywood, which is likewise into movies), then walking the length of East Broadway to Lloyd Center, a Portland landmark, and soon (within hours) to open to crowds for a last day as an indoor shopping mall.
However I didn’t stick around for those crowds. People I know were there for the festivities, which included lining up for candy treats and ice skating (that rink will be missed, but few were using it, and the mall had become a ghost of its former self).
They sent me pictures, which I added to my album. But I was back in my “outstairs office” long before then, content with my almost-no-people vacant streets look. That’s a slice too, early morning hours on a Saturday when few people have any reason to be out and about.
I’m accepting of the fact that systems have more than just boundaries in the sense of inside and outside. They have boundaries, or call them lifespans, of before and after. However based on my latest observations of all the new construction going on, this will be more of a transformation than a complete replacement.
The plan is to turn the place inside-out so it becomes less of an enclosed space and more a shared outdoor space where people also want to live. I’d say look at the Pearl District and NW Portland for a preview. That being said, I’m have no privileged access to these plan, or maybe they’re public and I simply need to look them up at the city website.
I left the bicycle in the repair shop today in preparation for a next loop.
