Portland photographer Lauriel Arwen just posted some incredible images.
This was not the first time she had done this, but they show-off one of my favorite parts of Portland & they inspired me a bit.
“Goats in the City”–by Lauriel Arwen
Portland has people who rent goats to clear land.
Thistle, blackberries, ivy, “fire-hazardous underbrush”…whatever you want to get rid of , goats will eat it…trust me:
I once fed a goat a Dixie™ cup.
(…Yes, the wax-coated kind…Yes, the goat wanted to eat it…No, I don’t know why…Yes, I was a kid when I did that…No, that doesn’t make it okay…)
As a side note, I’ve also seen a cow eat a lit cigarette at night by a castle (…didn’t do that one, but my friend did…and I watched it…and probably wondered the same things you are now…)…
…back to the Portland goats:
It’s an actual growing trend to use goats to clear urban land (maybe you’ve heard of California, Idaho & Washington). There was even an article in the ol’ Huff-Po about it.
Feel free to check out the full article [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/15/goats-get-work-clearing-land-portland_n_963943.html ], but here are some of the highlights:
Goats have shown they can get rid of invasive species that are “choking off native plants and growing into thick tangles impossible to navigate on foot” & “weedy patches between buildings, in lots long gone to impenetrable thicket, in half-built construction sites gone to seed in the Great Recession.”
“Goats eat all day…Goats are chemical-free. And goats will get the job done.”
“The project that might have taken human hands all summer will be completed by goats in less than a month”
“…it would have cost double or triple to have a landscaping crew do what the facility paid Stiner for her goats, and he didn’t have to turn to herbicidal chemicals he said he’d rather not use.
Sometimes it’s not a choice. In clearing operations close to a watershed, Stiner said she’ll get the call because chemicals can’t be used for fear they’ll enter the water supply.
The weeds invariably return, but in smaller numbers. And since goats like to eat seeds, too, the rate of returning weeds drops compared to machine clearing…”
“Goats are used to control weeds and fire-hazardous underbrush in Oakland, Calif. At a Seattle-area vacant lot next to a city-owned bus depot, goats made short work of Scotch broom.”
…a revolutionary idea?…or maybe just this:
“It’s like an old-fashioned solution to an old fashioned problem. It’s so obvious, but people don’t think of it.”
All of this thinking of what I like about Portland (& looking at Lauriel’s other photos) brought me to what I like about Oregon.
“Cannon Beach”–by Lauriel Arwen
This great shot was taken at Cannon Beach (for those of you outside Oregon, this is where they filmed the ship coming out into the ocean at the end of ’80s kid flick, “Goonies“).
The Oregon Coast is public land. There are no private beaches…and this is not even what I consider the best spot (…it’s 5th, if you’re wondering…).
“May Day 2012”–by Lauriel Arwen
…and there’s lots of people who think like me, too…
It seems like this was a post made more for people who live outside of Portland.
Maybe it’s me trying to subconsciously get myself to focus on the positive.
Maybe it’s to get my damn friends from back home to visit me out here…(never!?…really?!…in 11 years!?…I’ve been back there 4 times–reciprocity, anyone?). I’m not really hurt, I just want them to think I am so they’ll come out here someday…(ok, I am a little…[more than a little?])
Whatever the reason was for this, I hope you liked it.
…talk to you soon…
'portlandians' 