September 19 Monday, October 30, 2006

I got back to Portland late in the evening of Sept. 18. The next morning, as I was getting myself back into my routine, I heard a police siren in the street below me. That's not too unusual, but I looked up to see the cop pulling over a truck right at the corner of NW Flanders and 22nd—just half a block from my apartment. I watched for a few minutes to see what happened. The two cops talked to the driver for a couple of minutes, he smoked a cigarette. In fact, they almost seemed to be chatting like neighbors.

After a little while, one of the cops wrote out a citation for some offense that wasn't readily apparent. But then the other cop helped the driver unload a dishwasher and a couple of cabinets from the back of the pickup truck. A tow truck came along and removed the vehicle, and the driver was stuck on the sidewalk with his kitchen. He made a phone call, and a few minutes later someone came by and picked him up. I took this photo right from my office window.