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Subject: Postcard from Portland
Dear Family and Friends,
"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."
--Don Marquis
I'm convinced that Tim Allen (a.k.a. "Morepower" Taylor) has amped up
our clocks and that's what's responsible for the time warp in which I've
been trapped.
Okay, so Elisha may have just a little something to do with this. The
rate at which she changes has seemed to have stepped up considerably -
both physically and mentally. We noticed it had been getting harder to
get her shoes on [1]. Liz went to buy her new shoes and learned she had
gone from a 3-1/2 to a size 5! Clothes that still fit as recently as a
month ago are now ready to take to the consignment shop for resale. On
her 18 month birthday (May 11th) she was a less-than-hefty 22# 11oz.,
which is around the 30%-ile. The Rotavirus she had the first week of
April set her back in the weight department, but it looks like she's
trying to make up for lost time.
Walking is now old hat for her. She runs everywhere she goes. The only
things that slow her down are books (which she absolutely loves),
preferred TV shows [2], and favorite toys (like the oversize Legos). She
has learned that she may get _one_ book at a time and must then put it
back before we'll read her another. Sometimes she'll have Liz read her
the same book several times in a row - and then bring it to me for a
redux, or two, or five! Elisha has also demonstrated that she doesn't
always pick a book at random. Several times in the past few days she
focused on the Suess books in the collection. She can now assemble many
of the puzzles and toys she has that require fitting together pieces of
matching shapes - testing both her manual dexterity and sense of logic.
Our little charmer has also now figured out how to sit in her pint-sized
chair by backing up to it. Same goes for daddy's lap when he's sitting
cross-legged on the floor. ;-)
Some of the cute maneuvers she's mastered lately are turning in circles
[3], dancing and marching in place [4]. She also waves bye-bye to Liz
and me, accompanied by "ba ba" [5]. She's finally starting to say other
intelligible words, too - like "yah", "den-que" [6] and "WOW". We know
that she understands much more than we give her credit for
comprehending. Last week Elisha brought a book to Liz and was told,
"Mommy has to go to the bathroom. I'll read this to you as soon as I'm
done." Elisha beat feet right to the bathroom door before Liz had a
chance. And I asked her, "Where's the ball? Bring it to daddy." She
turned around and looked right at her ball, went to it, and brought it
to me. And of course, she's always more than willing to get us a book
whenever we ask.
Elisha is also coming more into her own in terms of being assertive. As
soon as we've carried her downstairs, she twists and propels herself
towards the ground in order to force us to set her down. Then she closes
the gate at the bottom of the stairs. :-) Her duties as door police are
strictly enforced - she's conscientious [7] about closing any open
doors.
Two weeks ago we all went to Cooley's Gardens [8] to admire the irises.
They're a major supplier and have acres upon acres of every variety
imaginable. Unfortunately, the bloom is late this year and we only got
to see about 10% at their prime. But Elisha had loads of fun sitting in
the grass and running her hands through it [9].
In other news, we enjoyed a visit from Liz's mom the second week of May.
I treated the ladies (all 3) to dinner at Stanfords [10] for Mother's
Day. Before she went back home, Pris treated Liz and me to dinner at
McCormick & Schmick's [11]. They had literally just gotten in their
first shipment of Copper River King Salmon. This exquisite aquatic
masterpiece is reason alone to stay in the Pacific Northwest - and is a
repast which has been an annual ritual and right of passage for Liz and
me. Elisha sat this one out. She stayed home and played with the
babysitter. By the end of her weeklong stay Elisha was starting to warm
up to "Gram Pris". They shared some books - and hugs. It's good to see
Elisha finally growing out of her stranger anxiety phase.
Speaking of hugs, I nearly forgot to mention that the past few days
Elisha has been treating Liz and me to the most amazing and wonderful
hugs. She now throws her arms around our necks and squeezes tight. She's
also been giving us *real* [12] kisses. Our joy in parenting and love
for her deepens daily.
On the home front, we've finally gotten around to hanging the
schoolhouse clock which had belonged to Liz's Grandpa Arthur (who I
never got to meet, I'm sad to say), as well as putting up some of my
photos from my freelance days and some other art. Since we've been in
the house for over two years now, I'd say that merits membership in the
procrastinator's club :-)
Liz's new job is working out very well, thank goodness! And my project
is now in Field Test. It's also going extremely well. The weather,
however, is a different story. It can't quite seem to decide whether to
get warm, stay wet, dry out, or return to fall. The attached weather
data spanning the last two months will attest to this fence straddling.
BTW, if anyone has strong feelings about the bandwidth that the weather
summary absorbs, please let me know. If the prevailing winds are to
prune it from the PfP's, I can simply include it in the online version
only.
The only other newsworthy note is that I've moved herring.org to a new
home (Aracnet.com), and am now thoroughly spoiled by the speed and
convenience of a 256k DSL connection to the internet. Geek paradise :-)
Our plans for June include celebrating Father's Day as well as our 6th
meet-aversary (on the 24th - thanks again, MaryAnn!!).
we love and miss you all,
Sandy, Liz and Elisha
[1] On her, not us :-)
[2] Tellytubbies (don't ask!), Sesame Street (esp. Elmo) and Bear in the
Big Blue House (Liz and I are unashamed to say we like it, too ;-)
[3] which makes her dizzy resulting in falls and giggles.
[4] She learned this in daycare.
[5] and in my case, "ba ba da da" :-)
[6] "thankyou"
[7] bordering on compulsive
[8] http://www.cooleysgardens.com/
[9] A new experience for her since it had been too wet before now.
[10] http://www.stanfords.com/
[11] http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/
[12] As opposed to gape-mouthed grouper kisses [13]
[13] which are totally unbefitting a herring ;-)
_________________________________________________________________
Data harvested from http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=pqr
CLIMATIC SUMMARY FOR PORTLAND OREGON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
253 AM PDT SAT MAY 01 1999
...TEMPERATURE...
HIGH YESTERDAY... 69
LOW YESTERDAY... 42
MEAN TEMP........ 56 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 2
NORMAL HIGH FOR TODAY... 64
NORMAL LOW FOR TODAY... 44
RECORD HIGH FOR TODAY... 85 SET IN 1998
RECORD LOW FOR TODAY... 29 SET IN 1954
...DEGREE DAY DATA...
HEATING
YESTERDAY... 9 DEPARTURE... -2
MONTH....... 424 DEPARTURE... 4
SEASON...... 3878 DEPARTURE... -304
COOLING
YESTERDAY... 0 DEPARTURE... 0
MONTH....... 0 DEPARTURE... 0
SEASON...... 0 DEPARTURE... 0
...PRECIPITATION...
YESTERDAY............. 0.06
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH... 1.55
NORMAL MONTH TO DATE.. 2.39
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR.... 20.93 TOTAL SINCE OCT 1... 40.90
NORMAL YEAR TO DATE... 15.15 NORMAL FROM OCT 1... 29.29
...WIND DATA IN MPH...
AVERAGE WIND SPEED YESTERDAY... 5.2
FASTEST 2-MIN WIND YESTERDAY... 17 FROM 250 DEGREES
PEAK WIND GUST YESTERDAY....... 21 FROM 260 DEGREES
...ASTRONOMICAL DATA...
SUNRISE TODAY...559 AM PDT
SUNSET TODAY...817 PM PDT
SUNRISE TOMORROW...558 AM PDT
SUNSET TOMORROW...818 PM PDT
APR CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT FOR PORTLAND OREGON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
253 AM PDT SAT MAY 01 1999
TEMPERATURE DATA......
(DEGREES F)
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE.... 50.6 OR 0.4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 60.3
AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 41.0
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 79 ON DAY 24
LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 32 ON DAY 1
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (BASE 65) COOLING DEGREE DAYS
MONTHLY TOTAL ........... 424 MONTHLY TOTAL .......... 0
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... 4 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 0
SEASONAL TOTAL (JUL-JUN). 3878 SEASONAL TOTAL (JAN-DEC) 0
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... -304 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 0
PRECIPITATION DATA....
..RAIN..
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH......... 1.55 OR 0.84 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
TOTAL SINCE JANUARY 1ST..... 20.93 OR 5.78 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
GREATEST 24 HOUR RAINFALL WAS 0.45 INCHES ON DAY(S) 9-10
..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 16 HIGHS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER 0
WITH .10 INCHES OR MORE 5 HIGHS 90 DEGREES OR WARMER 0
WITH .50 INCHES OR MORE 0 LOWS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER 1
WITH 1.00 INCHES OR MORE 0 LOWS 0 DEGREES OR COLDER 0
SKY CONDITION......... SEA LEVEL PRESSURE............
NUMBER OF DAYS CLEAR .. 30 HIGHEST 30.65 INCHES ON DAY 14
NUMBER OF DAYS PTCLDY .. 0 LOWEST 29.75 INCHES ON DAY 05
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY .. 0
WIND DATA.............
THE AVERAGE MONTHLY WIND SPEED WAS 7.4 MPH
THE FASTEST TWO-MINUTE WIND WAS... 36 MPH FROM 90 DEGREES
THE HIGHEST PEAK WIND GUST WAS.... 46 FROM 90 DEGREES
REMARKS...
NEW RECORD HIGH OF 79 ON THE 24TH. OLD RECORD 76 IN 1946
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
500 PM PDT THU APR 15 1999
...NEAR RECORD HEAT IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR OF OREGON AND SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON TODAY...
STRONG DRY OFFSHORE FLOW HELP PUSHED THE MERCURY WELL INTO THE
SEVENTIES TODAY. HOWEVER...THIS WARMTH AND OFFSHORE WINDS WILL END
LATER FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
HERE ARE THE AFTERNOON HIGHS IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR...
SALEM 81 WARM BUT NO RECORD (82 IN 1947)
EUGENE 79 WARM BUT NO RECORD (81 IN 1947)
CORVALLIS 82 WARM BUT NO RECORD
AURORA 76 WARM BUT NO RECORD
KELSO 75 WARM BUT NO RECORD.
N VANCOUVER 75 WARM BUT NO RECORD.
MCMINNVILLE 75 WARM BUT NO RECORD (83 IN 1990)
HILLSBORO 71 WARM BUT NO RECORD (81 IN 1984)
TROUTDALE 72 WARM BUT NO RECORD (79 IN 1989).
PORTLAND 72 WARM BUT NO RECORD (82 IN 1990).
NWS PORTLAND CLIMATE
ROCKEY
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
530 PM PDT FRI APR 16 1999
...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES IN NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON TODAY...
STRONG DRY OFFSHORE FLOW KEPT THE TEMPERATURES WARM ACROSS THE AREA
ONCE AGAIN TODAY. HOWEVER...A COOLER ONSHORE FLOW IS EXPECTED
SATURDAY...CONSEQUENTLY...THIS WILL BE THE LAST DAY OF RECORD
TEMPERATURES FOR AWHILE.
HERE ARE RECORD OR NEAR TEMPERATURES FOR THIS AFTERNOON...
EUGENE 77 NEW RECORD...OLD RECORD 76 IN 1954
N. VANCOUVER 85 NEW RECORD...OLD RECORD 80 IN 1983
MCMINNVILLE 80 NEW RECORD...OLD RECORD 79 IN 1947
SALEM 80 NO RECORD...RECORD 82 IN 1897
PORTLAND 78 NO RECORD...RECORD 81 IN 1947
CORVALLIS 79 NO RECORD...RECORD 84 IN 1897
TILLAMOOK 82 NEW RECORD...OLD RECORD 68 IN 1983
FLORENCE 80 NEW RECORD...OLD RECORD 74 IN 1983
ASTORIA 83 NEW RECORD...OLD RECORD 69 IN 1983
SEASIDE 81 NO RECORDS AVAILABLE
NWS PORTLAND
HEFFEL
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
830 AM PDT SUN APR 25 1999
...RECORD WARMTH ACROSS WESTERN INTERIOR OF OREGON AND SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON YESTERDAY...
STRONG DRY OFFSHORE FLOW HELP PUSHED THE MERCURY WELL INTO THE
SEVENTIES SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
HERE ARE THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON HIGHS IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR...
**** HILLSBORO 78 NEW RECORD HIGH (OLD 77 IN 1995)
**** PORTLAND 79 TIES RECORD HIGH SET IN 1946
CORVALLIS 81 WARM BUT NO RECORD
N VANCOUVER 81 WARM BUT NO RECORD
TROUTDALE 78 WARM BUT NO RECORD (79 IN 1995)
SALEM 79 WARM BUT NO RECORD (84 IN 1910)
MCMINNVILLE 78 WARM BUT NO RECORD (79 IN 1946)
SCAPPOOSE 77 WARM BUT NO RECORD
AURORA 77 WARM BUT NO RECORD
EUGENE 76 WARM BUT NO RECORD (77 IN 1995)
KELSO 75 WARM BUT NO RECORD
CLIMATIC SUMMARY FOR PORTLAND OREGON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
450 AM PDT TUE JUN 01 1999
...TEMPERATURE...
HIGH YESTERDAY... 67
LOW YESTERDAY... 52
MEAN TEMP........ 60 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 0
NORMAL HIGH FOR TODAY... 71
NORMAL LOW FOR TODAY... 50
RECORD HIGH FOR TODAY... 94 SET IN 1970
RECORD LOW FOR TODAY... 39 SET IN 1966
...DEGREE DAY DATA...
HEATING
YESTERDAY... 5 DEPARTURE... 0
MONTH....... 312 DEPARTURE... 63
SEASON...... 4190 DEPARTURE... -241
COOLING
YESTERDAY... 0 DEPARTURE... 0
MONTH....... 9 DEPARTURE... 9
SEASON...... 9 DEPARTURE... 9
...PRECIPITATION...
YESTERDAY............. 0.05
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH... 1.97
NORMAL MONTH TO DATE.. 2.06
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR.... 22.90 TOTAL SINCE OCT 1... 42.87
NORMAL YEAR TO DATE... 17.21 NORMAL FROM OCT 1... 31.35
...WIND DATA IN MPH...
AVERAGE WIND SPEED YESTERDAY... 7.0
FASTEST 2-MIN WIND YESTERDAY... 16 FROM 340 DEGREES
PEAK WIND GUST YESTERDAY....... 18 FROM 340 DEGREES
...ASTRONOMICAL DATA...
SUNRISE TODAY...525 AM PDT
SUNSET TODAY...852 PM PDT
SUNRISE TOMORROW...525 AM PDT
SUNSET TOMORROW...853 PM PDT
END....
MAY CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT FOR PORTLAND OREGON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
450 AM PDT TUE JUN 01 1999
TEMPERATURE DATA......
(DEGREES F)
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE.... 54.9 OR 2.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 63.9
AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 45.9
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 89 ON DAY 23
LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 37 ON DAY 10
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (BASE 65) COOLING DEGREE DAYS
MONTHLY TOTAL ........... 312 MONTHLY TOTAL .......... 9
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... 63 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 9
SEASONAL TOTAL (JUL-JUN). 4190 SEASONAL TOTAL (JAN-DEC) 9
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... -241 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 9
PRECIPITATION DATA....
..RAIN..
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH......... 1.97 OR 0.09 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
TOTAL SINCE JANUARY 1ST..... 22.90 OR 5.69 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
GREATEST 24 HOUR RAINFALL WAS 0.50 INCHES ON DAY(S) 17
..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 16 HIGHS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER 0
WITH .10 INCHES OR MORE 9 HIGHS 90 DEGREES OR WARMER 0
WITH .50 INCHES OR MORE 1 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 .. M HIGHEST 30.34 INCHES ON DAY 22
NUMBER OF DAYS PTCLDY .. M LOWEST 29.50 INCHES ON DAY 03
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY .. M
WIND DATA.............
THE AVERAGE MONTHLY WIND SPEED WAS 7.8 MPH
THE FASTEST TWO-MINUTE WIND WAS... 26 MPH FROM 260 DEGREES
THE HIGHEST PEAK WIND GUST WAS.... 33 FROM 260 DEGREES
REMARKS...
MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 37 DEGREES ON THE 10TH TIES RECORD FOR THE DATE...
PREVIOUSLY SET IN 1963.
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
530 PM PDT MONDAY MAY 10 1999
...RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE SET THIS MORNING...
AT NORTH VANCOUVER 31...THE OLD LOW WAS 35 SET IN 1979.
PORTLAND PUBLIC SERVICE UNIT
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR...CORRECTION
557 PM PDT SUN MAY 23 1999
RECORD WARMTH ACROSS WESTERN INTERIOR OF OREGON AND SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON TODAY. STRONG DRY OFFSHORE FLOW HELP PUSHED THE MERCURY
WELL INTO THE 80S AND 90S THIS AFTERNOON.
HERE ARE THE AFTERNOON HIGHS ACROSS THE WESTERN INTERIOR...
LOCATION HI STATUS OLD RECORD
PORTLAND 89 WARM BUT NO RECORD 90 IN 1947
HILLSBORO 88 NEW RECORD 86 IN 1983
MCMINNVILLE 89 WARM BUT NO RECORD 91 IN 1938
TROUTDALE 87 TIES RECORD HIGH OF 87 IN 1983
N. VANCOUVER 94 NEW RECORD 91 IN 1983
SALEM 89 WARM BUT NO RECORD 93 IN 1947
PORTLAND(DT) 91 TIES RECORD HIGH OF 91 IN 1993
NWS PORTLAND PAYNE CLIMATE CENTER
ROCKEY
--
Sandy, Liz & Elisha Tigard, Oregon School of Herring
webfeet@herring.org bigfish@aracnet.com http://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: Tuesday, 06-May-2008 16:56:06 PDT
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