Date: Saturday, 02-Dec-95 10:10 AM

Subject: Postcard from Portland

Hi everyone!

We can't believe another month has moved on since our last Pcard from
PDX! It's been a busy - and wet one. Much wetter than usual (see
monthly weather stats at the end of this email). The humdrum humidity
has not put a damper on our good humor - we're still delighted to be
here. If anything, it makes us appreciate the sunshine all the more. In
fact, it's partly sunny right now. Before breakfast this morning, Liz
was enjoying the view in the back yard and spotted a beautiful
visitor.  The neighbor's bird feeder was hosting a Red-shafted Flicker.
This is a large woodpecker (about a foot long) with a white chest
marked with numerous round black spots and a wide black crescent, a
brown back, a white rump, salmon-red under the wings and tail, and a
red "moustache".  We were transfixed for several minutes as he hogged
the feeder.

We also had visitors of species Homo sapiens. Steve Gill and his friend
Cris came to roost for the weekend of November 17th. We started off
with breakfast at restaurant (whose name eludes us right now) in Lake
Oswego, where we enjoyed great food and homebaked goodies. Next we went
to the Japanese Gardens. Liz and I had been to the International Rose
Test Gardens before (just down the hill), but had not been to the
Japanese Gardens. It was incredibly beautiful and serene - winding rock
slate paths, miniature waterfalls, classic Japanese landscaping, *huge*
koi (nautilus class :-), sculptures, a tea house, a Zen rock garden,
and commanding views of downtown Portland. After mellowing out for a
couple of hours, we were ready for our next quest - the Portland
Saturday market - from Zen to a zoo. This is as close as you can get to
taking a step back into the 60's without the help of Mr. Peabody and
his WayBack machine! Plenty of well done arts and crafts - and lots of
youth expressing itself by any means possible; tie-dyed clothing,
pierced body parts, drums, Hacky Sack (some of the best we've ever
seen), skateboards, music, marijuana, you-name-it! We finished up the
afternoon by walking around downtown for a bit and then headed home to
freshen up for dinner. Steve and Cris had brought us a beautiful bottle
of Perrier-Jout Fleur de Champagne with matching hand-painted
glasses!!  We toasted our friendship 'til the bottle was ready for
Steve to convert into a wicked candle with the kit he had brought with
him from OC. Steve also brought us (at our request) a bunch of bagels
from Shirley's (PDX has *no* bagels worthy of the name) and a _whole
roll_ of sturdy plastic bags from the Atrium Court Farmer's Market (the
markets here have only the flimsy non-reusable variety).

We headed back into Portland for dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish
restaurant - a landmark for 103 years. No trip to PDX is complete
without feasting on the crabcake and other divine offerings at Jake's.
After we were stuffed to the Gills (so to speak), we waddled over to
Powell's Books (another mandatory stop). We had only a half-hour to
scour the stacks before closing, but Steve managed to fill up a bag
with numerous hard-to-find tomes on UFOs.

After a good night's sleep, I fixed lox & eggs w/bagels for
everyone and then we saddled up Liz's Saturn and journeyed off to the
Columbia River Gorge. The weather cooperated and we had impressive
views of Mt.  Hood on the way there. It was so windy at the gorge that
we were nearly blown off of Crown Point - the most famous overlook,
yielding vistas up and down the river and the perfect vantage point
from which to marvel at the maniacs windsurfing below. We continued on,
stopping at and enjoying the numerous waterfalls along the way - ending
up at Multnomah falls, the second highest year-round waterfall in the
U.S. On the way back home we saw a waterfall which fell about 50 feet
before being caught by the wind and blown into a fine mist which
scattered and disappeared into thin air, never to reach the ground.
Fantastic!!!

Once home, Steve and Cris packed and we headed for the airport - but
not without satisfying the third mandatory requirement for a Portland
visit - brews, rosemary garlic fries and sausage at the Portland
Brewing Company (http://www.portlandbrew.com/portland/). It was sad
saying farewell to them, but we know they'll be back and we hope many
of you will follow in their Footsteps!

Liz and I enjoyed Thanksgiving together (after she finished work #-( )
by feasting on a traditional turkey/stuffing/mashed potato/cranberry
sauce meal at the Harborside Restaurant (part of the McCormick &
Schmick's chain) overlooking the Willamette River. It was the first
time Liz had *not* spent Thanksgiving with her parents or my family -
and a long, long for me :-( We reminded ourselves how very much we have
to be thankful for - our love for each other, our health, our families
and friends, and our jobs. We also helped ease the pain of separation
by treating ourselves to a wonderful bottle of '90 Heitz Cabernet
Sauvignon %^)

Last weekend we enjoyed the first in the series of classical concerts
for which we had purchased tickets. We heard the Oregon Symphony,
conducted by Murry Sidlin, perform Baroque favorites at the Arlene
Schnitzer Hall. The hall is old and grand - quite a contrast to OC's
modernistic Performing Arts Center. The program featured...

	Bach:    Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major
	Handel:  Messiah (excerpts)
	Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Murry Sidlin was dynamic and funny - a very different experience from
the stuffy atmosphere at the OCPAC. He was quick to point out that the
first piece was in F Major - a key having one flat - and that they had
managed to find one "Adam Flatt" to be the guest conductor.  There was
no chorus for the Messiah, just a tenor and soprano. Murry turned to
the audience before the Hallelujah Chorus and asked for a show of hands
from people who had come prepared with musical scores.  Very few people
had. He commented, "Well, it looks like we'll have a chorus of 17! In
keeping with tradition [which he explained] will you all please rise -
and try to join in." It got off to an abysmal start, so he stopped the
orchestra, turned to the audience and said, "It's really not too
difficult. The words are 'Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hal-le-lu-jah'. And
it really would help if you followed *my* lead." His admonishment was
delivered with a broad grin and obvious good humor. After we finished
butchering the Messiah Murry introduced The Four Seasons by calling our
attention to the accompanying poetry in the program notes and pointing
out that Vivaldi had precisely coordinated each *word* to the music. He
had some members of the orchestra perform strains that were associated
with some of the phrases and encouraged us to read along as they
performed in order to better understand what Vivaldi had intended. He
noted that he had asked that the house lights remain up so we might see
the text. Of course, when they started the piece, the lights were
turned down. As soon as they finished the Allegro in "Spring", he
stopped and said loudly, "I asked that the lights be left *up* - would
you please turn them up now." After a few moments of waiting in vain,
he said, "Oh, never mind. I know where they are, I'll do it myself".
Which he did, and then continued on with the Largo in "Spring" and the
rest of the piece. The symphony performed very well - and the Murry's
relaxed sense of humor made the evening all the more enjoyable.

I had the good fortune of being one of 41 ADP associates selected at
random to receive tickets to a Blazer's game. The bad news was that I
was #40 in the selection hierarchy - the good news is that there were 5
no-shows that ended up getting bumped. I chose the 3/15 game against
the LA Clippers. At least the Blazers have a chance of winning this one
:-o If there had been *no* no-shows, I would have ended up with tickets
to see them play the Raptors or Grizzlies :-(

We're looking forward to visiting Liz's parents for the Christmas
holidays. We'll try to see as many of you (you == OC friends) as time
permits - but our main focus will be spending time with Liz's folks -
so please forgive us and try to understand if we don't have a chance to
see each of you :-(

We hope you all had a bountiful Thanksgiving with much for which to be
thankful - and enjoy a wonderful holiday season and fun & safe New Year.
This will probably be the last Postcard from Portland this year to
allow us time to snail mail holiday greeting cards!

we miss and love you all,
Sandy & Liz

CLIMATIC SUMMARY FOR PORTLAND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO PORTLAND OREGON
 540 AM PST FRI DEC 01 1995

 ...TEMPERATURE...

HIGH YESTERDAY... 55
 LOW YESTERDAY... 52
MEAN TEMP........ 54   DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL...   11

NORMAL HIGH FOR TODAY... 48
NORMAL  LOW FOR TODAY... 37
RECORD HIGH FOR TODAY...  62 SET IN 1958
RECORD  LOW FOR TODAY...  20 SET IN 1985

...PRECIPITATION...

YESTERDAY.............   0.49
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH...  11.25
NORMAL MONTH TO DATE..   5.34
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR....  37.41   TOTAL SINCE OCT 1...  14.40
NORMAL YEAR TO DATE...  30.17   NORMAL FROM OCT 1...   8.01

...ASTRONOMICAL DATA...

SUNRISE TODAY...730 AM    PST
SUNSET  TODAY...429 PM    PST
SUNRISE TOMORROW...732 AM    PST
SUNSET  TOMORROW...429 PM    PST

Begin Oregon River Report

028
RWUS42 KPDX 011745
FLSPDX

FLOOD STATEMENT                                   BULLETIN NO. 29
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 945 AM PST FRI DEC 1 1995

...FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED FOR THE PUDDING RIVER IN CLACKAMAS AND MARION
COUNTIES...

...FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN OREGON...
     UPPER TUALATIN RIVER IN WASHINGTON COUNTY
     LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER FROM VANCOUVER DOWNSTREAM
     WILLAMETTE RIVER FROM OREGON CITY FALLS DOWNSTREAM
     CLACKAMAS RIVER IN CLACKAMAS COUNTY
     LUCKIAMUTE RIVER IN POLK COUNTY
     SOUTH YAMHILL RIVER IN YAMHILL COUNTY

HERE ARE THE LATEST RIVER READINGS AND FORECASTS...
RIVER/FORECAST      CURRENT    FLOOD    FORECAST/REMARKS
    POINT           STAGE      STAGE

LOWER COLUMBIA
 AT VANCOUVER       18.0 FT    16.0 FT  CONTINUE SLOW RISE TO
                                        AROUND 18.5 FEET TODAY...NEAR
                                        18.0 FEET SATURDAY

 AT LONGVIEW        12.7       12.0 FT  RANGE 12.5 TO NEAR 14.0 FEET
                                        THRU SATURDAY.

WILLAMETTE BELOW    26.7 FT    27.0 FT  RISE TO NEAR 28.0 FEET
OREGON CITY FALLS                       TONIGHT...NEAR 27.O FEET
                                        SATURDAY.

WILLAMETTE          18.5 FT    18.0 FT  RISE TO NEAR 19.0 FEET
  AT PORTLAND                           TONIGHT... NEAR 18.5 FEET
                                        SATURDAY.

TUALATIN            17.6 FT    17.0 FT  FLUCTUATE NEAR 17.5 FEET
 AT DILLEY                              INTO SATURDAY.

LUCKIAMUTE          28.O FT    27.0 FT  FALL BELOW FLOOD LEVELS
 AT SUVER                               THIS EVENING.

SOUTH YAMHILL       40.O FT    38.0 FT  FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE
 AT WHITESON                            OVERNIGHT.
                                        MORNING.

CLACKAMAS           10.4 FT    10.0 FT  CRESTING NOW... FALL BELOW
 AT ESTACADA                            FLOOD STAGE THIS EVENING.

PUDDING             22.6 FT    22.0 FT  CREST NEAR 23.0 FEET TONIGHT
 AT AURORA                              THEN FALL TO 22.0 LATER
                                        SATURDAY

COOLER AND DRIER AIR IS MOVING INTO OREGON WITH LIGHT PRECIPITATION
LIKELY OVER THE WEEKEND. RUNOFF IS DECREASING IN HEADWATER STREAMS. BUT
LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH IN SLOWER DRAINING BASINS...THE REGULATED
WILLAMETTE RIVER...AND THE COLUMBIA RIVER THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SOME
SLIGHT OR MINOR LOWLAND FLOODING WILL CONTINUE WHERE FLOOD WARNINGS
REMAIN IN EFFECT.

ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE COAST LATE IN THE WEEKEND.

--
Sandy & Liz Herring         permanent address: sherring@ACM.org
Portland, Oregon            provider du jour : pickled@ix.netcom.com
                            http://www.paciolan.com/~gdh/friends/sandy

                And that's the news from Lake Oswego,
           where the women are strong, the men good looking
               and all the children are above average.

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