my entry for Photo Friday: ocean
As a kid, I used to dig holes in the hopes of reaching the ocean floor. I had heard the myth that you could make it all the way to China, but I just wanted to get somewhere deep - somewhere where even the surface was submerged, where surface and interior became one. Drain all the water, and the ocean floor transforms into a surface - the outermost layer of earth, a vast expanse of ground that we can walk on. In this sense, it exists in two states at once.
Here in the city, this sealed staircase is the closest I can get to that feeling. I want to follow the steps down, disappear beneath the city. Explore the surface beneath the surface.
But I am not even certain these steps still exist. Or if this was ever a staircase at all.
Comments (6)
It痴 a retired stairwell leading to an old subway. There are more around down town, some more discrete then others. I want to make my way into the shanghai tunnels, but have not found an opening yet. I have heard rumors that in some buildings, you can get to them.
Posted by skitlegrindr | July 20, 2004 10:21 AM
Posted on July 20, 2004 10:21
Did you read about those folks back in the midwest, who woke up one day to find that the lake around which their houses and condos were built had vanished into a sinkhole, all of the lake water draining away in a single night into limestone caverns far below?
I'd always been fascinated by this staircase too, and I deliberately didn't go down it, so as not to destroy the fascination. There used to be a middle eastern restaurant in the same neck of the woods that you got to similarly, by diving down under street level. I wonder if it's still there?
Posted by dale | July 20, 2004 10:32 AM
Posted on July 20, 2004 10:32
Tony -
Thanks for stopping by. No Photoshopping. It is just a sealed staircase ...
K
Posted by karrie | July 20, 2004 10:40 AM
Posted on July 20, 2004 10:40
That would be awesome! Thanks! By the way, congrats for having your blog listed in the Willamette Week as one of the 17 "Portland blogs worth reading"!
Posted by skitlegrindr | July 20, 2004 4:47 PM
Posted on July 20, 2004 16:47
this photo blog is great. bookmarked!
Posted by mixin visuals | July 21, 2004 10:17 PM
Posted on July 21, 2004 22:17
First of all, yes, congratulations on being mentioned in the Weekly. That article is why I am here today.
Second, I just moved to Portland several months ago, and it was just two days ago that I first saw that staircase.
Third, with all due respect to the rest of you, as for me, screw the mystery. I fully intend to head on down that rabbit hole on the next new moon as soon as I can find some bolt cutters, a crowbar, and someone else who, like me, has a fascination with discovery, is able to defend themself from whatever darkness may be there, and who has never been down those stairs before.
Are you with me?
-Ry
Posted by Ry | July 21, 2004 11:55 PM
Posted on July 21, 2004 23:55