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Subject: Postcard from Portland
Dear Family and Friends,
My apologies for the tardy arrival of this month's PfP. The reasons for
the delay will be evident as you read on...
"To be interested in the changing seasons is, in this middling zone, a
happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring."
--George Santayana
And change the seasons have. The annual foliage fashion show, which
began with beech, maple and oak blushing in tones of canary, crimson and
cinnamon, now features limbs in various states of undress, the raiment
having been cast carelessly on the ground, to await Mother Earth's
housecleaning.
Last month we flew to Long Island for David Frank's Bar Mitzvah. In
keeping with the Frank tradition, it was quite the event. But most
importantly, David acquitted himself beautifully. Unfortunately, Elisha
decided to express herself during the service, so we had to spend much
of it out of view. The sound was piped into the adjacent room, so at
least we were not out of earshot. The dinner party was large and
elegant, and David and his friends obviously enjoyed it. In our opinion,
the highlight of the evening was when David's older sister Dara, whose
talents include a great set of pipes, sang "Forever Young". It was as
heartfelt as it was beautiful, and brought tears to our eyes as well as
David's.
The trips there and back were, well, a trip :-) On the way to NY, we
changed planes at DFW. Why is it that every time you have only 35
minutes to make a connecting flight it departs from the next county?
*sigh* With a child in tow, we're always the last ones to deplane. Then
we have to retrieve the stroller that had been gate-checked. By the time
we've set up the stroller, the clock is running out and it's time for a
mad dash. DFW makes this all the more challenging by including the
element of vehicle avoidance since the trams share space with (and have
the right of way over) pedestrians. I guess that served to put us in the
proper mindset for NYC [1]. La Guardia, next stop. Welcome to chaos,
dissonance and brusqueness. The limo service claimed they'd have the
driver there in 20 minutes. Two phone calls and an hour later we were
finally picked up and merged with the vehicular lunacy. The return trip
was a relief, but not in the way you are likely imagining. We needed to
change Elisha en route (i.e. at 37,000 feet). She's getting a bit large
to do this on the tray tables, but we had no other option. For the first
time in many moons she decided to anoint the changing pad. Her timing
was, of course, impeccable - right after removing the dirty diaper and
before we could get the new one in place. We managed to contain the
cascade to the changing pad, but her clothes got soaked. She caught us
empty-handed - it was the first time we hadn't put a change of clothes
in her diaper bag. Liz had a great idea, which I executed. I used the
scissors in my leatherman minitool to fashion a poncho by cutting holes
in a receiving blanket we had brought along. Liz was more upset than
Elisha or I, but the flight attendant put her at ease by noting the
pains we had taken and commented that this was obviously our first
child. She joked that if this had happened to her, she would have just
wrapped the blanket around her child. Elisha promptly went to sleep in
her tattered couture. We changed her as soon as we had landed and
claimed our baggage.
Elisha continues to rapidly add to her skills. She now pulls herself up
on *everything* in sight, including mommy and daddy. We've had to lower
the mattress in her crib. She's also an accomplished cruiser and can
clear the coffee table of magazines, etc. in no time flat. She's been
challenging herself to stand unattended and can sometimes manage 15
seconds of freestanding before flopping - which she now can do with some
grace. She is getting a lot of practice walking using her activity
walker [2] and can navigate her way across the room in a jiffy.
Her vocabulary is now filled with phonemes of every sort - which she
strings together into long, expressive and unintelligible [3] sentences.
There are some words that she does use in context - especially, "mama"
(often "mamamamamama..."). "Dada" still has many meanings, and only
occasionally refers to me :-( Elisha has also added "uh-oh" to her
lexicon.
Towards the end of October Elisha came down with a nasty cold, which she
shared with Liz and me [4]. It was diagnosed as a virus, the Rx being to
simply let it run its course. She also had an ear infection, which was
treated with Amoxicillin (aka "pink goop"). Liz and I both have a
childhood history of ear infections, so we fear this will not be
uncommon, poor thing. I haven't been that sick in longer than I can
recall. For a few days I sounded like Barry White! Liz was also in bad
shape for a few weeks. We are all well now and glad to have this bout
behind us.
In the midst of our misery, Liz's mom came for a visit [4][5].
Unfortunately, Elisha is at the age where she has been exhibiting
stranger anxiety. It didn't make Grandma Pris feel any better to know
that Elisha gave the same treatment ("bwah!") to Grandmom Ada during our
NY visit. It wasn't until the last day of her weeklong stay with us that
Elisha finally started to warm up to her :-(
Elisha didn't go out for Halloween, but Liz dressed her up in bunny ears
- which she sometimes permitted to stay on long enough to answer the
door and greet the little neighborhood beggars.
The big news (courtesy of the delay in getting out the PfP) is, of
course, that Elisha celebrated her first birthday! Liz and I spent the
day is disbelief and in reminiscing what we were doing 11/11/1997. We
signed her guestbook [6] to mark the occasion, and treated Elisha to her
first taste of chocolate (black & white cake) and her second ice cream
sensation. She was a happy camper. As we expected, she was more
intrigued by the wrapping and boxes than the gifts which they concealed
- the exceptions being the Star Trek variety "tribble" Liz found for her
and the piano with lighted keys that her Aunt Shelly and Uncle Mitch
sent her. Perhaps we have a budding virtuoso (do you give piano lessons,
Robert? Frank? ;-).
The day after her birthday was not as joyous - she got her one year
checkup. She's gained two pounds and grown one inch in the last three
months, which keeps her on track for her percentile (petite :-). The
pediatrician also noted that she's cutting molars! Elisha was in good
spirits until the nurse came in with her shots - four of them. We've
never heard her bawl so hard :-( At least she hasn't developed any
complications from them.
I've gotten incredibly busy at work [4]. They now call me "demo boy"
since I've been doing dog-and-pony shows to several visitors (including
our largest clients) of the project for which I'm the sole engineer.
It's given me good visibility right up to the president of the division,
but I need to get busy cutting code for the next release!
Liz, on the other hand, is not as busy at work as she'd like. The health
care industry is in a sorry state, and it's affecting all speech
therapists.
I'll try to be a bit more prompt with the next PfP - which shouldn't be
too hard since it will cover just two weeks.
"One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay 'in kind' somewhere
else in life."
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh
May your Thanksgiving be a time for rejoicing with family and friends,
which are, after all, the best life has to offer.
we love and miss you all,
Sandy, Liz and Elisha
[1] Four people are walking down the street - a Saudi Arabian, a
Russian, a North Korean, and a New Yorker. A reporter rushes up and
says, "Excuse me, can I get your opinion of the meat shortage?" The
Saudi Arabian says, "Shortage? What's a shortage?" The Russian says,
"Meat? What's meat?" The North Korean says "Opinion? What's an opinion?"
The New Yorker says, "Excuse me? What's excuse me?" --Anonymous
[2] http://www.babygenie.com/product_details.asp?pid=249
[3] except, perhaps, to her :-)
[4] part of the reason the PfP was delayed
[5] Hmmm... somehow that doesn't sound quite right ;-)
[6] http://www.herring.org/emhguest.html#first_birthday
_________________________________________________________________
Data harvested from http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=pqr
CLIMATIC SUMMARY FOR PORTLAND OREGON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
345 AM PST SUN NOV 01 1998
...TEMPERATURE...
HIGH YESTERDAY... 49
LOW YESTERDAY... 42
MEAN TEMP........ 46 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... -4
NORMAL HIGH FOR TODAY... 58
NORMAL LOW FOR TODAY... 42
RECORD HIGH FOR TODAY... 76 SET IN 1996
RECORD LOW FOR TODAY... 31 SET IN 1978
...DEGREE DAY DATA...
HEATING
YESTERDAY... 19 DEPARTURE... 4
MONTH....... 323 DEPARTURE... -3
SEASON...... 371 DEPARTURE... -120
COOLING
YESTERDAY... 0 DEPARTURE... 0
MONTH....... 0 DEPARTURE... 0
SEASON...... 547 DEPARTURE... 176
...PRECIPITATION...
YESTERDAY............. 0.07
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH... 2.20
NORMAL MONTH TO DATE.. 2.67
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR.... 28.30 TOTAL SINCE OCT 1... 2.20
NORMAL YEAR TO DATE... 24.83 NORMAL FROM OCT 1... 2.67
...WIND DATA IN MPH...
AVERAGE WIND SPEED YESTERDAY... 7.6
FASTEST 2-MIN WIND YESTERDAY... 14 FROM 130 DEGREES
PEAK WIND GUST YESTERDAY....... 17 FROM 150 DEGREES
...ASTRONOMICAL DATA...
SUNRISE TODAY...650 AM PST
SUNSET TODAY...459 PM PST
SUNRISE TOMORROW...652 AM PST
SUNSET TOMORROW...457 PM PST
OCT CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT FOR PORTLAND OREGON...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
835 AM PST SUN NOV 01 1998
TEMPERATURE DATA......
(DEGREES F)
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE.... 54.3 OR 0.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 62.1
AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 46.5
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 77 ON DAY 6
LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 37 ON DAY 30
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (BASE 65) COOLING DEGREE DAYS
MONTHLY TOTAL ........... 323 MONTHLY TOTAL .......... 0
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... -3 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 0
SEASONAL TOTAL (JUL-JUN). 371 SEASONAL TOTAL (JAN-DEC) 547
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... -120 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 176
PRECIPITATION DATA....
..RAIN..
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH......... 2.20 OR 0.47 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
TOTAL SINCE JANUARY 1ST..... 28.30 OR 3.47 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
GREATEST 24 HOUR RAINFALL WAS 0.48 INCHES ON DAY(S) 9
..SNOW..
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH......... 0.0
TOTAL FOR THE SEASON........ 0
GREATEST 24 HOUR SNOWFALL WAS INCHES ON DAY(S) __ __
..NUMBER OF DAYS..
WITH .01 INCHES OR MORE 14 HIGHS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER 0
WITH .10 INCHES OR MORE 6 HIGHS 90 DEGREES OR WARMER 0
WITH .50 INCHES OR MORE 0 LOWS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER 0
WITH 1.00 INCHES OR MORE 0 LOWS 0 DEGREES OR COLDER 0
SKY CONDITION......... SEA LEVEL PRESSURE............
NUMBER OF DAYS CLEAR .. MM HIGHEST 30.42 INCHES ON DAY 18
NUMBER OF DAYS PTCLDY .. MM LOWEST 29.73 INCHES ON DAY 24
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY .. MM
WIND DATA.............
THE AVERAGE MONTHLY WIND SPEED WAS 6.5 MPH
THE FASTEST TWO-MINUTE WIND WAS... 30 MPH FROM 90 DEGREES
THE HIGHEST PEAK WIND GUST WAS.... 34 FROM 90 DEGREES
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
600 PM PDT TUE OCT 20 1998
...RECORD WARMTH OVER OREGON TODAY...
MANY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE STATE WERE EITHER EQUALLED OR
EXCEEDED TODAY. THESE INCLUDE:
TODAY OLD RECORD
ASTORIA 73 70 IN 1964
NEWPORT 75 75 IN 1938
FLORENCE 76 72 IN 1991
SALEM 75 75 IN 1987
EUGENE 74 74 IN 1991
NUMEROUS OTHER STATIONS REPORTED NEAR-RECORD TEMPERATURES TODAY.
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
520 PM PDT WED OCT 21 1998
...AND THIS MAKES TWO DAYS NOW...
MANY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES ALONG THE COAST AND WEST OF THE CASCADE
MOUNTAINS WERE BROKEN AGAIN TODAY. THESE WERE:
TODAY OLD RECORD
ASTORIA 75 71 IN 1965
TILLAMOOK 77 71 IN 1958
NEWPORT 80 78 IN 1937
FLORENCE 78 70 IN 1977
NORTH BEND 80 74 IN 1944
BROOKINGS 81 80 IN 1936
N. VANCOUVER 76 68 IN 1981
IT LOOKS AS IF THE 2-DAY HEATING SPELL WILL END WITH COOLER AIR
MOVING ONSHORE TONIGHT.
--
Sandy, Liz & Elisha Tigard, Oregon School of Herring
webfeet@herring.org bigfish@sns-access.com http://www.herring.org/
And that's the news from Portland
where everything is green, rolling stones gather moss,
and the rainfall is always above average.
Most Recent Update: Thursday, 14-Oct-2004 17:16:34 PDT
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