Second Sunday Market of 2010

May 15, 2010

The weather was perfect for the second Sunday Market of the year in Astoria, Oregon. I was away last weekend, so this was my first Sunday Market this year. I look forward to its start each year, and throughout the summer I look forward to market days. It's early for fruit and vegetables, but handmade things were around in abundance and old friends greeted each other happily.

The neon sign on the white building at 14th Street and Duane says, "The Banker's Suite, Bank, Ballroom." I didn't know the building when it began as a bank, but I've heard and danced to a rock band there, and I got wonderful treatment when it was a day spa. This web site will tell you everything . . . and don't miss the snazzy upstairs. In Astoria? Are you kidding?

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Astoria City Hall: Reflection

Late in the day, the Astoria City Hall is reflected in the one-way glass window next to the drive-up teller window of the Columbia National Bank. Until recently, the bank was called The Bank of Astoria. Most of us still think of it by the old name. Both the Bank of Astoria and the City Hall are on the corner of 11th Street and Duane Avenue, diagonally from each other with the city hall facing Duane.

For more photos featuring yellow, check in with Mellow Yellow Monday.

Red spring and evolution in a small town

I took this photo in front of the Bank of Astoria on April 10, 2009. The bank (at 11th and Duane) was recently bought by Columbia National Bank and changed its name (the statements still say B of A and so does the building), and it will take most of us years to think of it as anything other than the Bank of Astoria. The old names and features become so ingrained that when I first moved here in 2001, people were constantly giving me directions based on things that were no longer around, and may have been gone for 20 years! I had no idea what they were talking about. The right side of the photo is now a parking lot, but anyone who has been here for a few years (including me) will tell you. "It's by the old Safeway." The white building in the middle of the photo is a charming building that has been the Columbia River Day Spa for maybe six or seven years, but it, too, is a former bank. A lot of the old buildings keep the signage for historical or aesthetic reasons, and that would be a fun topic to explore sometime. Anyway, as Spring comes to Astoria with its rejuvenating ways, we give more than a slight nod to the old and comfortable, too. We love Spring here - it brings a few patches of blue in the sky and some rays of much-wanted sun.

Today is Ruby Tuesday. Click on the link to enjoy other photos featuring red!

If you're interested, you can see more pix of Astoria today on my other blog.