CHICKENS LOVE ROSES IN PORTLAND

A walk through the city of Portland one can feel as if misplaced, transported, or otherwise sidelined on a parallel of Time to an age of Dinosaurs and voracious plant and tree life, where fruit is grown on city streets all for the plucking of any passer-byer be it human or Crow. This is how my mom describes Portland. What I wonder along the walk, is, where are all the deer? Where I come from, gardens cannot be grown in this manner, in the open, and along the street public side beside the sidewalks because the deer would devastate it overnight.

Fascinated as I was with the open gardens, it was the endless streets of roses that truly caught my eye, and nose! I was able to visit during the height of summer, and the roses were all in full bloom. I don't believe there was even one street that I walked or drove by (that wasn't a highway) that I didn't see roses growing.

I visited the University of Portland, and that university area is especially full of rose sightings. The University is located in "North" Portland, but not far from the core of Portland. Portland is divided up into areas that are named which I found pretty cool. The area I stayed in was called Scott-Arleta, but the university was near two areas named Woodstock and St John's. I was told by a long time resident that these areas are part of Portland now, but originally were like small towns North of Portland along the river. St John's is super cool with the bridges and the areas to hang out on the Willamette River, a branch off the Columbia River, which helped because it was super hot!

When I was done at the University, and would go for a walkabout all these areas with my mom and dad, another fun sighting was all the chickens that were pecking and plucking for bugs in the neighboring yards. Between the gardens and the roses there were a ton of flowering trees, bushes and blooming leaves as well as fruiting trees. I didn't "see" the chickens but rather "heard" them and their soft clucking sounds. They were freely walking along the gardens and under the roses. Some were in their yard areas where I could see the hen houses and perches. But, some roosters were just checking out the other vegetative areas on their own. Can you spot the Adventurous Hen?

I asked one of the residents sitting on their porch in the beautiful afternoon sun about the chickens and their abundant habitats. He explained to me that Covid did escalate that somewhat, and that more and more Portlandians acquired chickens during that time. However, he also mentioned that nobody anticipated the issue they would have with the equally abundant Racoons!! Yes, Racoons. He said that put a kink into the backyard chicken plan for countless residents, as even if there isn't a Deer population to destroy gardens there is a very healthy population of Racoons.

Even though my visit was a short one, it was a very exciting, informative, vibrant and entertaining one. I believe I saw, learned, and met more people in 3 days then some might see in other cities, including paddling on the Willamette River, training with the U of Portland ladies of Volleyball, along with chilling at the University overlooking the river and is perched at the top of the ravine. The University of Portland is especially wonderful, and roses abound, there is lots to do in Portland during the summer. ...you might even cross the path of a Rooster!