Rain protection, again. It's Portland, y'all. You should have heard the rain a few minutes ago, Monday night as I prepared this post. Wow!

I took this photo while parked in a Zipcar. I rolled down the window--well, I pushed the button and the window went down--and took the photo quickly so that not too much rain came inside the car. Not the best conditions for taking a photo of this innovative bike rack at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, but since I'm rarely in The Pearl, I threw caution to the wind. This photo is straight out of the camera. Serendipity that I got another umbrella in use.

Rain protection.

Recent rain brought out these colorful umbrellas and their ladies, a couple blocks from my building. Umbrellas, not the norm in sometimes blustery Portland--I hardly ever use one although I have a travel one in a pouch on my backpack. Instead, I followed the good advice my sons gave me back when I moved to Portland. "Mom, get a raincoat with a hood. You don't want rain dripping off a rain hat down your neck. You don't want an umbrella blowing inside out." Thanks, Lamont and Leland.

First-round, NBA Western Conference Playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, 122. Houston Rockets, 120. Overtime win for my guys! Hooray!