Snow in Portland

I listened to the podcast of Monday's Rick Emerson Show while working last night, and this morning I've been checking out pictures of the snow in the city. In the decade I spent in Portland I only remember once when enough snow fell to cover everything for more than a day. But this time it seems to be big time, at least for Portland, the place where usually you go to the mountains for the snow rather than having the snow come to you. (Photo borrowed from the Oregonian on oregonlive.com)

Things to do when Unemployed

My list of things I now can fully enjoy while unemployed:

-Listening to the Rick Emerson Show out of Portland in real time on the 970 am website.

-Washing all glass & metal containers before taking them to the recycling site in town.

-Finally reading the tattered copy of Sometimes A Great Notion which I bought used from Powell's so many years ago.

-Typing long personal letters to all of my friends in Washington state & using my collection of postage stamps as they were intended (and recycling paper by typing on the blank side of outdated resume' pages).

-Tending houseplants so they don't shrivel up from neglect.

-Memorizing the Latin names of all Native Cascadian Evergreens.

-Drinking more coffee than I should while researching methods to brew my own beer.

-Brainstorming ways to start a compost pile in the laundry room.

-Putting together a cache of survivalist supplies under the bed in case of a zombie apocalypse.

-Securing bookshelves to the walls in case of earthquake (well, disaster preparedness habits die hard).

-Wondering if I actually have a Cascadian accent when I hear native Virginians talk.

-Looking for ways to promote equal rights in the aftermath of the passage of prop. 8 in California.

-Feeling smug about not living in California, insisting I was born in NORTHERN California & explaining how the northern third is not really California.

-Cleaning the apartment using only baking soda, vinegar, or alcohol.

Tewsdeigh

I slept in late this morning, preparing myself for my new work schedule. Yes, I have a job, but it's second shift. At least it's a job I should be able to keep for more than a few weeks without worry about a layoff.

Anyway, I was reading the Chicago Tribune (online, of course, which is a blessing for this particular Cascadian expat), drinking my coffee & following the story about the Illinois governor going to jail, etc. The doorbell rang & I found a special package from the USPS just outside the apartment door. From my friend Keith back in River City. I tore it open, excited at the prospect of items from my home town. Yes, first was an actual copy of one of Portland's weekly papers, the Mercury, which I will be able to savor without reading it online, then a box of chocolates (for my wife, the accompanying card specified--fine with me considering the other contents), hazelnuts & smoked salmon as well! Oh, and a package of fine coffee from a renowned Oregon roaster. Truly a care package for this homsesick lad. Thanks, Keith!

Oregon Native

My wife & I are preparing to head out for a night on the town, so to speak. We're actually planning to drive 20 miles south to the town of Orange where there's a coffee shop which is open past 8 p.m. on a Saturday night AND hosts an open mic event. I already showered & chose my "people's republic of portland" t-shirt to wear; I've been checking out the selection, online, of other Oregon themed t-shirts while she is getting herself ready.

I can't remember which friend gave me this t-shirt, black with "people's republic of portland" in red, lower-case letters across the front. I enjoy the joke associated with this shirt, the way it pokes fun at the often raical liberal atmosphere which drapes over Portland like a April morning rain. I'm wondering where I might find a replacement for when this one wears out (and I might want to still wear it), so I took a look & found an assortment of Oregon shirts. All I own, really, is this black one & the other red one which features the Powell's City of Books logo my friend Keith gave for me at Christmas a few years back. (I'm drinking from my favored Powell's coffee mug while writing this.) Anyway, I want to push my Cascadian homesickness beyond what it is, to show it up a bit, make it more dramatic, as is the custom for Portlanders as I remember them. So, I'm going to take this blog in that direction, see where I can go with it. Why not? At least it might be more funny.

Nutty Squirrels

I put up a bird feeder in the tree outside our apartment where the cats can sit in the windowsill & watch for hours. But these squirrels have been coming around, doing what squirrels do, and I've been going out to make adjustments, sometimes several times a day (I just can't manage to do nothing but search for jobs all day online, so this game with the squirrels is a welcome distraction). Anyway, the squirrel is still getting down to the bird feeder, spilling seeds down on the ground, despite having fallen at least twice. I snapped some pictures of the cats watching the squirrel, but haven't managed to catch one of his acrobatic fall. The feeder is only about four feet above the ground, and after each fall the little gray guy figuratively dusts himself off & climbs right back up the tree. He's more fun to watch than a variety of beautiful birds just coming around to eat seeds. His companion seems content to remain earthbound & sample the seeds he manages to spill, but he really has no fear of falling, doing it time & again. Anyway, the squirrels remind me of home.

I'm thinking about posting some pictures, but I need to figure out how.

No snow at least

Snow has been falling in Central Illinois, and I check the back weather page of the morning paper for the forecast. Low fifties here in Northern Virginia, but I see the Peoria area is two color bands below in the thirties. It always seems to be at least ten degrees cooler back there; the weather front seems to warm a bit after crossing some mountains before it arrives here, reminding me of my Pacific West Coast December weather: rain & daytime temperatures ABOVE the freezing point.

If I want snow I can drive into the mountains. I remember someone described snow in the Williamette Valley this way: "I go to the snow when I want snow, the snow doesn't come to me."

Christmas without Doug Fir trees

I've been searching online for local u-cut tree farms, etc. The selection available seems to be the Norway Spruce & Scotch Pine which grow all over the place out here, and the Canaan Fir of which I'm not familiar. But I'm looking for a genuine Doug Fir; forget the traditional Noble Firs shipped around the world, I'll take a scrawny Doug Fir all the same. I miss those trees, and I think having one in our living room would alleviate my homesickness which seems to manifest after all the trees have dropped their leaves and the temperature drops below freezing at night.

I remember, growing up, the wind & rain would sweep in from the Pacific during late Autumn, blowing down a big Doug Fir or two in our back yard, and after the storm my father would cut off the top eight feet to install in our living room as a Christmas tree (the rest of the tree would be cut up & split for the following Winter firewood supply). We never had snow, just rain on Christmas, or coastal fog, but I miss it all the same. After two Winters endured in Central Illinois I don't care much for snow anymore.