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It all started at the block party, as so many things do on Southeast Flavel Street. In June 2024, resident Michelle Hepler was brainstorming a craft project she could host for attendees at her street’s annual blow-out block party that’s really become more like a festival; tie-dye, henna and build-your-own birdhouse craft stations were already taken. (The block party is called “Flurning Woman.” It’s Flavel’s take on Burning Man and, yes, it lasts all night and an effigy is safely burned.) A friend suggested a rock-decorating project in which people would paint rocks and then Hepler could set them in a line as a “rock snake” along Flavel near Southeast 36th Avenue. Floyd the Flavel Rock Snake was born.
A year and a half later, Floyd is nearly 300 rocks long. There’s a Marge Simpson rock, a Portland Pickles one, many rainbows and flowers, and one very close-up eyeball. He grows most in the summertime, when he is photographed and videoed on a daily basis and sometimes ends up on social media. “He’s going to have to jump the driveway soon,” Hepler says.
Floyd has faced adversity in his life, too: a 5-year-old once stole about 10 rocks from his midsection, which his parents made him return the next morning. Hepler brought Floyd inside last fall to protect him from leaf pickup day and winter storms. Passersby told her they were relieved to see him again when he returned in March.
Hepler says, “It totally is a landmark in the neighborhood.”
