Portland, Part 1: Touring with Family

 

9/19/25 Portland Japanese Garden

As mentioned yesterday, I spent several days in Portland, Oregon, last week. The primary purpose of these (now annual) trips is to visit my brother and his wife. We were able to spend quite a bit of time together on this trip, which I appreciate more and more as I get older.

Since I wanted to put priority on simply enjoying the experiences with them, I didn’t sketch as much as I might have if I had been alone. Still, as fast as I am, I managed to get at least one sketch at each location that we visited together.

First up was the fabulous Portland Japanese Garden (which I last visited during a family reunion in 2017). While in Seattle I’m gearing up for leaf-peeping season, Portland still felt like summer (up to 10 degrees warmer than Seattle every day), and the garden’s lush foliage was still mostly green. I seem to sketch the koi whenever I visit, and this time I also sketched the moon bridge over the central pond (top of post).

Still mostly green

9/21/25 OMSI resident

Another favorite Portland stop is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, which I spent more time sketching during a 2014 visit. This time, my only sketch was a live Madagascar gecko in the natural history and paleontology area (at left).

Potentially the most interesting and unique experience I shared with my family involved birds. Every autumn, a huge flock of migrating swifts roosts in Portland for a week or two before moving on. For many years the birds chose a certain elementary school with a tall chimney as their roost of choice. This year, however, the swifts moved to a different location – another school with a tall chimney, Abernethy Elementary.

The return of the swifts is a much-anticipated event that locals celebrate almost like the Japanese tradition of hanami during cherry blossom season. Families pack picnics and spread out on the school grounds before dusk, eagerly awaiting the birds. Then right before sundown, the swirling spectacle begins as the thousands of tiny birds dive into the chimney for the night.

We arrived shortly before sundown and found a place in the grass. Just when the swifts were expected, though, a large murder of crows passed through the neighborhood on their way to their own roost. A few dozen swift scouts showed up, and some dove into the chimney as expected, but the rest of the flock never came. We speculated that the scouts spooked by crows sent out a memo that the flock needed a different roost that night.

Although we were disappointed not to see the spectacle we came for, I still enjoyed being there on a lovely, warm evening, participating in and sketching the crowd’s festive atmosphere (below).

9/21/25 Waiting for the swifts