I actually arrived back in PDX very late on Tuesday and have been trying to readjust to this time zone plus catch up on sleep.  I knew I was really back on Wednesday afternoon as I headed out to Ignite Portland.  Deliberately went out early so I could shop around on Hawthorne before the program started.

So it was too early for much homeward bound traffic, but everybody was unaccountably stopped in all lanes somewhere around 20th.  Then I saw what was going on.  A man was chasing down several large bunches of balloons — bright red and yellow — that had escaped out into traffic.  They were bouncing gently in the roadway as he tried to corral them.  Drivers were patiently waiting.  Not something you see on afternoon drives in other cities.

It’s good to be back.