12 March 2012

fifty suns

well, the rain is back. with a vengeance. and when it comes and covers the city like this, I can't help but think about the time ava and I decided to stop complaining and take on the rain.
it was june of 2010 and felt like it had been cold and rainy for months. it hadn't been, of course but it had felt like it and it was june, for pete's sake. june. we were ready for summer so we decided to take matters into our own hands. we gathered the necessary materials (white paper plus every yellow and orange marker, crayon and colored pencil in the house) and drew as many suns as our hands could handle. which turned out to be about fifty. in hindsight, we probably should've used sturdier paper and bigger, brighter markers but it was a spur of the moment kind of project and everyone knows spur of the moment projects are all about using what you have. spur of the moment projects are also all about momentum.



we packed up our sunshine flyers and our rolls of tape and took to the streets of portland, downtown portland.

50suns-0

the plan: bomb the city with sunshine flyers. or try to, at least. here are a few of the places we hit:


a signpost on burnside, just outside powell's books. and then the shelves of the self help section inside. because if you are in the self help section of a book store, you might be a person who would appreciate a little sunshine flyer.


the park, near the rose bushes. rose bushes that greatly benefit from all that portland rain, I realize, but would also benefit from a little sunshine every once in a while.


an abandoned building.


the bathroom of the lobby of the ace hotel.


the secret drawers, where people leave all matters of notes, drawings and letters. did you know the lobby of the ace hotel had secret drawers? well, they do.



the photobooth, of course.


pioneer square.


a construction site.


and then finally, the window of the streetcar on our ride back.


but maybe the best part of the story is this: a few days later, we drove around downtown to see if any of our sunshine flyers were still up. there were a few, though most of them were gone. but as we drove by a phonebooth where we'd intentionally covered up a horrible white supremacist sticker, we spotted a note. I jumped out of the car and the above is what I found.


and so, on this rainy rainy day, this is something to remember, this note that was left for us. this is something to remember, this thing that we did. sometimes sunshine is not so much a big yellow ball in the sky but a state of mind.

49 comments:

  1. Amazing story and project! Heart-warming like a ray of sunshine!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aww, I wish I'd been there then to find and keep some sunshine! I love that kind of guerilla art.

    ReplyDelete
  3. this makes me so happy.

    YOU are sunshine, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. sweetest thing ever!!! Makes me feel warm like sunshine inside. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. you, ava and the whole family are the coolest. what a great project!! xo

    ReplyDelete
  6. this is so heartwarming. i can feel those rays!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. so freaking awesome. i would be psyched to find one of your sunshines :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love this! You're right it is a state of mind (but the big yellow ball helps a little :)).

    ReplyDelete
  9. this makes my heart sing. i love you and your delightfully sunny family!
    completely inspired by you xo

    ReplyDelete
  10. I can't tell you how much you ROCK! I want to put you in my pocket and pull you out daily! you my friend are such an inspiration and I hope when you look in the mirror every morning you know that. YOU are the sunshine in so many people's lives. Ava is a lucky girl to have YOU for a mom! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. oh i love this so much. with weather like today's, i could have used seeing one of your sunshines around town! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this so much, so I tweeted it. I hope you don't mind! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. this is just so beautiful. what a wonderful idea! you are a wonderful family.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I cannot begin to tell you how happy this blog post made me feel. What a wonderful way to spread some happy thoughts. I absolutely love it! Self help section too - genius :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is perfect.

    May there always be sunshine in your life, Miss Hula!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just found your blog and because of this post I'm officially sold! Going on my daily reads immediately. This is maybe the coolest family project ever.

    ReplyDelete
  17. this makes me smile. thanks for the reminder that there are wonderful people in this world. your family is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This may sound totally corny, but I got chills. Haha. So awesome :) I love that someone responded. That was the best part to me. I ♥ Portland.

    ReplyDelete
  19. aw i love this. i wish i would have found one of your suns. i remember that summer, i could have really used one!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Will you adopt me? :) You're ridiculously awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  21. hey...
    we did something similar back in 2008.
    check it out at http://portlandartproject.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-post.html
    and i miss your comments from time to time. enjoy!
    natalie

    ReplyDelete
  22. AWE-SOME!! This just brightened up my dark, grey and rainy Vancouver day- than again reading your Blog generaly does that to me, Andrea.

    much <3

    ReplyDelete
  23. This idea is fantastic but even better is that most of them were taken and that sweet note. Very cool!

    ♥ sécia
    http://www.petiteinsanities.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. gah, i wish we could be real-life friends. i think you are absolutely rad. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Spur of the moment projects are always so glorious! I quite like the note left for you guys, it makes the idea that much sweeter to know someone appreciates it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I wish I had one of those gorgeous suns stuck on the wall above my bed!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Fascinating and inspiral project!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love this. LOVE this. It gave me goosebumps & made my hands itch for yellow crayons & an optimistic little sidekick. Thanks so much for sharing your lovely idea!

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a fantastic idea! I am itching for sun (and warm weather) here too. I love that someone responded. Goosebumps indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I love you guys! It's super cool guerilla-style sunshine art!

    I'm inspired. ;)

    xo
    cortnie

    ReplyDelete
  31. omg! i welled up at the last sign that was left for you. what a perfect thing to do with your kids. love, love, love it. and your new banner is awesome, sweet hula.

    ReplyDelete
  32. This was a touching project. A little sunshine and happiness go a long way. Thx for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. yep. i cried, too. you the bee's knees.

    ReplyDelete
  34. That is the most awesome idea ever in the history of awesome ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  35. wow. nice work.
    so awesome that you went out and did this. seriously.
    -k

    ReplyDelete
  36. oh.

    how i loved this.

    honestly.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hello! I'm a fellow Oregonian and a reader passed along this post to me....we've been needing some sunshine in our lives over here too. My motto (growing up here...) has always been, 'sometime you've got to make your own sunshine!' - and you've gone & done it! Thanks for the inspiration. My little one & I may need to spread some sunshine around our little corner of the world too...
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  38. What a beautiful idea, I'm so glad someone replyed to you too!
    It's little things like this that make you stop and smile, like a little ray of sunshine indeed :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. That's so awesome! The best part is that someone took a few seconds to right a not back!! Fantastic

    Samantha
    aladywholunches.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  40. hi dear! a friend of mine send me your post!
    it's incredible, your suns are "INNESTI"! have a look to this project born in milan, everyone can send his contribution from all over the world and i will post on the blog

    http://innestare.blogspot.it/

    :))))
    (http://innestare.blogspot.it/search/label/Cev%C3%AC)

    ReplyDelete
  41. i love it ... what an AWESOME idea!!! makes me happy just thinking about it :o)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Ah this is awesome!! Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  43. this is beautiful!! and super inspiring! :)

    ReplyDelete