Late this morning, armed with shoes, shorts, well-applied sunblock, and a hat, I hit the road. (Not literally. That hurts. I know from experience.) I walked to the central library downtown, toting a bag with water, a book, a banana and a split-in-two sandwich.

It's one of my odder ensembles, what I was wearing. I was not a fashion plate. What's the opposite of "fashion plate"? Fashion rock? Fashion wall? Fashion spatula?

But! I got downtown without getting burned or losing the hat or getting hit by a moving vehicle. I spent time in the library online, and then I ate lunch in Pioneer Courthouse Square and then then I zigzagged up to the Burnside Bridge and down the Eastbank Esplanade (eating the rest of the sandwich) and by the time I got home, I'd walked,

drum roll, please,

about five and a half miles! I needed that. I gave myself the "out" of thinking I can take a bus home if I need to, though I've tried to use few bus tickets lately. I can't afford the monthly pass right now that would give me unlimited riding through much of my part of Portland, so I've been conserving tickets. And I covered that approximately 5.5 miles no problem. Nice to remind myself I can. (Huh. I first wrote "cab." Significant slip?)

Oh, I should give you a better picture of the weather, so you can better imagine how I walked. Genuine imitation summer, is what Portland has today: cloudless and 80 degrees or so. Some breeze. The national air conditioner of the Willamette River, too, which I was close to a few times while walking. A good walking day, if you're properly prepared. I don't want to get sunburned this early in the year.

Maybe after this I'll stretch out on the bed. Lying down isn't a position I could have on the walk. It wouldn't have felt as good to lie down anywhere else on my trip. No city has public beds! At least not outside. They don't have public hammocks, either, though maybe they should...