Behind the Window: A Room with a View

So now that the stomach flu that had me throwing up so much I broke a bunch of blood vessels in my neck is over, and whooping cough (or mycoplasma pneumonia - my doctor wasn't sure but it responded to the second antibiotic he put me on) is over, and moving into my new ginormous one bedroom, brilliant-view apartment (but not the unpacking) is over, and the crashing from the Prednisone I was on for the chest pain during the whooping cough/mycoplasma pneumonia is over, and the nearly two-month battle with Qwest regarding my transfer of service is (hopefully) over, it's time for me to do some blogging already.

While I hope to start doing some proper writing soon, I thought I'd start off sharing a few pictures of that view from my bed. Yes, you read that right -- my bed. With my new apartment, I've got a comfy new (i.e. pre-owned) adjustable bed, so I can sit/lay in ease and watch the world outside my window. Note, however, that my Canon died several months back and all of the pictures that follow were taken with my cell phone -- with mixed results.



The view at sunset while actually laying down in bed. You can see Mount Saint Helens and the Fremont Bridge (my favorite bridge in Portland!) through the railing of my balcony. Though as I've simply moved to a new, roomier cell, the bars seem appropriate.



The view on a sunny day. The cell phone really can't do it justice as I can actually see the tip of Mt. Rainier just behind Mt. Saint Helens. To the east I also get the tip of Mt. Adams.



A view of Northwest Portland on cloudy day.



I took this one this afternoon. It was the most amazing rainbow I'd ever seen. While this turned into a very nice picture, it just wasn't able to capture how truly stunning this rainbow was. Not only was it so panoramic, but it was so bright. I could actually see every last color in it.

There is definitely far more view for the imagination, as Anne Shirley would put it, in this apartment. Though it can taunt me a bit with all the shops and restaurants below, reminding me of what I cannot still do -- leave the damn apartment. The few times I've given into temptation and ventured forth, I have had to pay the painful, icky price that ME/CFS always demands. So for the time being I'll stick to the patio, like I have the last three mornings during breakfast. The view still takes my breath a bit whenever I see it. And when I get a view like today, with the rainbow and the cloudburst over Gresham that followed, I remember that illness, at least, forces me to simply sit and watch. And because of that, I see a lot that I would have missed otherwise.