The Big Chill

Although winter officially begins on December. 21st, it's practically here already. Of course the local news media is hyping an urgent developing story, more commonly known as "The Weather."
This time the spectacular hazards involve cold temperatures and a little snow in the lower elevations. If that weren't bad enough, this stunning "wintry mix" could also include some ice and slick spots on the roads!
It's almost as if the weather reporters have already forgotten the snowstorm of 2003, which blanketed the entire metro area all the way down to sea level. More likely the news peddlers are just resorting to the old practice of freaking people out in order to sell their product.
The fright market must be doing pretty good around here these days, given the vast numbers of new residents who (apparently) aren't the slightest bit familiar with the effects of seasonal rain and snow. Many of them will unwittingly risk lives in the course of figuring it all out. Maybe the "urgent storm bulletins" will help educate some of these new folks about other useful tips along the lines of:

-This is the Pacific Northwest. It rains often and even gets freezing cold here. Just ask a native, if you can still find one.
-Utilize your wardrobe accordingly. Shorts and flip-flops might be uncomfortable for a time.
-Sometimes when the weather gets bad, the power goes out, trees fall down and rivers flood.
-Posted speed limits don't necessarily apply when asphalt becomes wet, or coated with ice.
-No matter what you thought you heard at the dealership, your SUV is subject to the same laws of physics as any other automobile, or even a skateboard for that matter.
-Unsure of how to drive in challenging conditions? Study up or better yet, please do yourself and everyone else a favor by staying home.

For people who don't need any of these reminders, it is wise to consider the presence of those who do; especially when braving the conditions out on the roads. Maybe that "alert" should be added to the local media's "Winter Survival Guide."

Happy Tryptophan Day!

In an all-too-often mixed up country, that's splashed with over-bloated holiday themes, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that there truly is much to give thanks for... All year long.

Big storm a comin!!! (Maybe)

Once again the big four local news outlets are sounding an alarm over a potentially severe weather event on the way. They’ve been known to over-dramatize their weather forecasts before. On December 12th 1995, a storm brewing off the Northern California coast headed into Oregon. Wind speeds approaching those of The Columbus Day Storm were predicted as “likely” within the metro area. This scenario scared the living crap out of anyone old enough to be around during that rare, devastating blow. Portland homeowners scurried to secure anything that wasn’t anchored to the ground, while local news crews were dispatched and visibly eager to cover the destruction, -which never happened. It’s fair to say the same over-zealousness has been applied to numerous snow and ice storm forecasts that melted away to nothing. However tempting it is to discount some of this current forecast as media-driven hyperbole, November hasn’t exactly been a placid month so far and it doesn’t take 50-plus mph winds to do serious damage. The recent, massive rainfalls have over-saturated the ground, which makes for dangerous conditions when combined with tall trees and strong(er) wind gusts. It’s this aspect I don't underestimate, given the two pine trees looming high over The Pavilion.

As of now at 6:00 pm, the local newsies are sticking to their prediction of 50 mph wind gusts in the metro area. The “wind watch” extends between 10:00 pm and early tomorrow morning. There’s no sign of the wind yet, but it’s raining steadily.

The sky opened up and the earth did tremble

Yesterday and last night's rain was noteworthy even to us PNW natives, due to the amount and intensity. No matter how long one has lived in this region, it's a real change after such a dry summer and fall. If the rain wasn't interesting enough, there was an earthquake to talk about. It struck at 9:34 pm and was measured at around 2.6 in magnitude, lasting for several seconds. Evidently it was felt all across the metro area. (I was cat-napping at the time.) The last quake experienced in this immediate area was on January 28th and was a 3.1 in magnitude. (I definitely felt that one where I was at out in Milwaukie.) What's particularly interesting to me is the location of these quakes. Last night's epicenter was supposedly located "near" Southeast 18th and Belmont, while the January 28th event was believed to emanate from a fault line near Laurelhurst Park, (39th & Belmont) which was also the same location as a magnitude 2.7 quake back in June of 2005. There is one other common factor that's interesting to consider. This area is at the base of Mount Tabor, an "extinct" volcanic cinder cone, which stemmed from a network of ancient shield volcanos and lava fields. Just a coincidence? The January quake was said to be "shallow," emanating from 7-9 miles under ground. In any case, this area sure seems active. I wonder what a geologist might say about this. Lastly, it's been quite warm during the night. As of 3:30 am out here in the eastern hinterlands, the rain has subsided and the wind has picked up. The temperature outside The Pavilion is just a hair under 65 degrees. -No, that isn't typical for November.

Welcome to November

What a difference a couple of days makes. Halloween night was one of the chilliest I can recall, yet clear and windy. Last night the rain arrived, with slightly warmer temps. This morning, strong wind gusts came rolling in to compliment the scene. (Some power outages are being reported in the area.) Looking outside at the rain and wind snatching leaves from the trees, makes for a classic portrait of November.

Ode to Halloween past

*Technical difficulties prevented me from posting this on the official day.

I lost my custom-made, prosthetic vampire fangs and my red contact lenses were discarded after eventually dissolving into a saline-based jelly. Nowadays I don't go crazy for All Hallows Eve like I used to, but I still love this holiday and it's fun to relive some memories.

Each year I ask myself, "Is Halloween" a time when some people put on disguises.. or take them off?

The last bachelor pad I resided in, often referred to as "The Powell House" was the ideal place for throwing great Halloween parties. With the tireless help of an enthusiastic best friend, my old roomies and I went to insane lengths to trick the place out for the occasion. The results were better each year. The house (which I learned was recently demolished to accommodate one of those grotesque, cookie-cutter apartment complexes) was perfect for Halloween; a large three story structure with a naturally creepy basement. Supposedly it had been built in the early 1900's so it already possessed part of that special "charm."

The decorative preparations included removing all of the window blinds/curtains and replacing them with tattered sheets and cheese-cloth. All natural lighting was outlawed. Colored bulbs were installed, so there was literally NO room in the house, including the bathroom with a normal, white light source. Barely functioning, *old* TV sets were located on all levels of the house, all showing the same "splatter montage" from a video tape that was painstakingly edited to depict scenes from classic/cult horror films and stuff that was just (as at least one person described) "simply sick and wrong." The television sets were all wired to one VCR via a network of coaxial cable and AV splitters.

The audio presentation was equally elaborate and schizo. My friend and I pre-recorded several hours of music that we felt best expressed "a festive, Halloween mood." -White/Rob Zombie, (of course!) The Doors, Ministry, Alice In Chains, Creedence, Black Sabbath, (of course!) etc, etc. All of it, blasting through large speaker cabinets on the ground floor. Beer was dispensed in the aforementioned creepy basement, with a designated "Beer-Tender" on duty to minimize keg anarchy. (That one approach prevented buttloads of problems we'd experienced during previous Halloween parties at "The Powell House.")

One year, the appropriately unsavory icing on the cake was undoubtedly "Carl, the one-eyed Indian." He was a very large Native American dude who we "hired" to stand guard at the front door to enforce the "No Costume, No Entry" rule. True to his title, Carl literally had only one functioning eye. The other socket contained a dead, white orb that sometimes oozed a clear liquid. Carl needed no costume whatsoever. He was authorized to turn away costume-less dorks *or* hand out a cheap, token "Lone Ranger mask" in the event that a sizeable group wearing costumes showed up, with the one "undressed" person accompanying them. We also provided Carl with an assortment of feathered opera masks for any chicks that showed up sans costume. Carl did an excellent job as a "peace-keeper," along with his primary duty of making sure that *nobody* got in without some sort of disguise. To the best of my knowledge, there were no arguments.

During the last Halloween bash before the rental property was sold, we counted well over two hundred people attending the final Halloween party at "The Powell House." That was similar in size to year 1 when KGON, the local "classic" rock n roll radio station stopped by in their tricked out "KGON Coffin Cruiser." Although the DJ's had other parties to attend, for some reason they didn't make it any further. - Apparently the "designated driver" ran across a chick at our party serving up straight shots including her special "Flaming Dr. Pepper cocktails." By November's early light, that guy was vigorously dry-heaving in the back yard and there were some assorted KGON DJs passed out in uncomfortable positions on the floor in the living room... By then I wasn't at the top of my game either, but I stoked up enough ambition to brew some coffee for myself and the overnight refugees. One of the DJs, clearly the most hung-over and sickest looking of the bunch said to me: "Man, if you ever have another one of these parties... Please don't forget to invite us." Sadly (or not) for him, KGON discontinued their Coffin Cruiser publicity stunt, thereby missing out on the final Halloween bashes at "The Powell House."

Lately I've been reading that many modern Europeans dislike the spread of commercialized, American Halloween traditions. I can't help but think their scorn is a bit ironic given the root customs originated among ancient Celts and various peoples of Northwestern Europe, who later imported them to North America. For those early immigrants arriving in The USA, an introduction to pumpkins must have offered a major leap in pagan/ritual technology, -after centuries of carving Jack O' Lanterns from turnips. Imagine how tedious that must have been!

Happy Samhain to all!