Date: Wed, 01 May 1996 19:05:03 -0700

Subject: Postcard from Portland

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy May Day (or whatever it is you may be celebrating :-).

April was a busy month for us - filled with family and fun. Liz and I
started out the month by flying to Boca Raton to share the Passover
celebration with my Mother and her 'clan' (Shelly & Mitch, Missy &
Richard and Eric) joined by my Uncle Morty & Aunt Charlotte (the West
Palm Beach contingent) and their 'clan' (Peter and Carol w/ Dara &
David, John and Jeff - the New York crew). For the first time in as
long as I can remember, this was only a partial accounting. Noticeably
absent was the Fox 'clan' (Uncle Jules, Aunt Perla, Jordan, Ken, Judy &
Jonathon w/ Benjamin & Rebecca [who will be 5 in three days!]) - who
celebrated in Minnesota due to the impending arrival of Judy's third
child. Judy, in fact, delivered a baby girl on April 14th (Mazel
Tov!!). I wish I had more information than that, but I've yet to hear
directly from the proud parents (hint, hint :-). Ken will be arriving
this coming Friday to spend the weekend with us, so I'm sure we'll find
out more shortly. Liz and I had a wonderful time visiting everyone who
gathered in Florida. Both Seders were memorable and made all the more
sweet by Mother's mandelbrot and macaroons :^} As if we didn't stuff
ourselves sufficiently at the Seders, we were also treated to an
incredible feast by the Franks at their club and a wonderful Italian
dinner with the "Cosa Ada" (there was a large Italian family which came
in for a late supper that could easily have been part of a 'larger
family'). Our long flight home ended with truly glorious vistas. We
flew around the backside of Mt. Hood where we could clearly see all of
the many major mountains (including Mt. Ranier) before turning west
over the Columbia River and passing Crown Point. Wow!

We were also treated to a visit from Liz's Mom the weekend before last.
Unfortunately, her Dad was busy preparing for a Titan launch and could
not join us this time. The hoped-for break in the weather never
materialized, so Liz's Mom got a full dose of drizzle and gray skies.
Nonetheless, they were able to do some Mother-Daughter bonding (more
commonly known as 'shopping' to the male gender :-). After they
returned laden with packages, we went to the Chart House for a
delightful dinner. Normally, it has a commanding view of the city,
Willamette Valley and the mountains beyond. Due to the liquid sunshine,
we had to content ourselves with an unscheduled fashion show - it was
prom night and half the restaurant was taken over by youths out for a
night on the town wearing garments for which they would never again
have any use. The following day, in spite of the showers, the three of
us ventured down to the Saturday Market and found some bargains as we
fought off frostbite. It helped that we had first fortified ourselves
with a brunch that can't be beat at O'Conners. We'll have to make that
a mandatory Sunday start for any out-of-town guests! We said our sad
farewells on Monday before I dropped her off in Portland, where she was
being met be her good friend and Washington transplant, Pat. She spent
a couple of days with Pat and her husband Dick before returning to
LaLaLand.

Family was not the only source of fun we had last month. On the 17th we
were entertained by Bobby McFerrin at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
(or 'the Schnitz', as it's called by the locals). I hadn't thought
about him very much since "Don't Worry, Be Happy", so I didn't know
quite what to expect. Liz and I were in for a surprise. His latest
shtick is conducting! Actually, he made his debut in 1990 with the San
Francisco Symphony after studying with Gustav Meier. He was slated to
lead the Oregon Symphony in a program of Wagner, Ravel, Grieg and
Mendelssohn. But being the zany improvisationist he is, he could not
resist the temptation to deviate just a little. At one point, he even
had the orchestra play (sans score) a little Strauss (the opening from
2001) and a bit of Beethoven (the 5th Symphony). He also got the
upright bass player to back him up with a blues extemporization.
Involving the audience is also part of his performance. He chastised a
latecomer with an impromptu display of scat singing and later had all
of us join him in some child's tunes - including "The Inky Dinky
Spider". Of course, the show would not have been complete without his
signature piece, "The Wizard of Oz". He played all the parts, and
switched from one to another with such speed and ease that it was hard
to believe they emanated from one person. His rendition of "Over the
Rainbow" was without a doubt my favorite. Liz and I have never had so
much fun at a 'classical' music concert.

Speaking of rainbows, we've had some spectacular ones here. Last month
Liz and I were just about to sit down to dinner when a hailstorm
erupted. We hurried to the sliding glass doors which lead out to our
back yard in time to behold a panoply of weather. The sky was dark gray
with vertical sheets of wispy precipitation. The flowers in our yard,
however, were bathed in strong light from the sun setting behind us.
And crowning the vista was a fully formed rainbow as intense as we've
ever witnessed. Hopefully the photos I took will convey some of the
majesty of the moment.

After a wetter than usual rainy season, Spring has finally arrived. The
temperatures have warmed to highs in the mid 60's and we're seeing more
and more of the sun. Especially now that Daylight Savings Time and
longer days are helping it along - see weather snapshot below.

We are looking forward to Ken's visit this weekend. We also are anxious
to see Liz's Mom & Dad when they visit in July and my Mom, Shelly &
Mitch and Missy & Richard in August. We still have some weekends open
at Chez Herring for the rest of you! Warmest wishes for much merriment
in the month of May. Until next month...

we love you all,
Sandy & Liz



Begin Oregon Climatic Summary

CLIMATIC SUMMARY FOR PORTLAND OREGON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
343 AM PDT WED MAY 01 1996

 ...TEMPERATURE...

HIGH YESTERDAY... 65
 LOW YESTERDAY... 45
MEAN TEMP........ 55   DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL...    1

NORMAL HIGH FOR TODAY... 64
NORMAL  LOW FOR TODAY... 44
RECORD HIGH FOR TODAY...  83 SET IN 1947
RECORD  LOW FOR TODAY...  29 SET IN 1954

...DEGREE DAY DATA...

HEATING
YESTERDAY...     10 DEPARTURE...    -1
MONTH.......    339 DEPARTURE...   -81
SEASON......   3727 DEPARTURE...  -455

COOLING
YESTERDAY...      0 DEPARTURE...     0
MONTH.......      0 DEPARTURE...     0
SEASON......      0 DEPARTURE...     0

...PRECIPITATION...

YESTERDAY.............   0.03
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH...   5.12
NORMAL MONTH TO DATE..   2.39
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR....  25.54   TOTAL SINCE OCT 1...  45.85
NORMAL YEAR TO DATE...  15.15   NORMAL FROM OCT 1...  29.29

SNOWFALL YESTERDAY...   0
SNOWFALL THIS MONTH..   0
SNOW FOR THE SEASON..   8.4

...ASTRONOMICAL DATA...

SUNRISE TODAY...558 AM    PDT
SUNSET  TODAY...817 PM    PDT
SUNRISE TOMORROW...556 AM    PDT
SUNSET  TOMORROW...818 PM    PDT

-- 
Sandy & Liz Herring                permanent address: sherring@ACM.org
Portland, Oregon                   provider du jour : shh@teleport.com
Peck of Pickled Pisces ........... http://www.teleport.com/~shh/

                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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