Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Hiya! Welcome to this little coffee nook on a wintry Tuesday, February 5, 2019. Given the weather challenges we face, let’s think of ourselves as pilots getting a last-minute briefing before we fire up the engines. I’ll post the latest weather guidance from the meteorologists, add comments from other sources, and ask for your help with pilot reports on the conditions you encounter. I stepped outdoors and brushed an inch of fluff off my car as more light snow comes down. Its 29 degrees in my driveway, and we’ll see soon enough if I make it out of my hilly neighborhood. Sunrise, by theway, is at 7:26 AM, and sunset moves to 5:23 PM.

OK! This is from the NWS:

TODAY…Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of snow showers in the morning, then mostly sunny in the afternoon. Highs 35 to 40.

And: Light snow will continue early this morning over much of the Willamette Valley and up into Clark County WA, although the snow will be coming to an end over the far northwestern sections between 3 AM and 5 AM. Total accumulations in most areas will be an inch or less.

And: Any moisture left on untreated surfaces has likely refrozen making for treacherous driving and walking conditions.

It’s going to be a hectic morning on the school announcement front, with two-hour delays being the most common decision, for now, as districts buy time to see if things improve.

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We’ve been monitoring the search for a doctor who got hurt on a solo treck in the Columbia Gorge on Sunday; Leslie Drapiza, MD is a family practitioner in Salem, and she set off from the Starvation Creek trailhead off I-84 Sunday. Later she texted friends that she’d been injured. It’s snowing and communications have been spotty but she was able to get a message out last night around dinner, and the word from the Hood River Sheriff is… ah! “Leslie Drapiza was successfully reunited with her family and friends at the Starvation Creek Trailhead early Tuesday morning. Rescuers from the Hood River Crag Rats, the 304th Rescue Squadron and Multnomah County Search and Rescue were able to extricate her from difficult terrain in the area of Lancaster Falls on Warren Creek. She was then able to walk with rescuers down to the trailhead, arriving at approximately 1:35 AM.”

As we cope with the reality of today’s weather, take a moment to remember what Northwesterners were going through this week in 1996. On February 5th, the rivers were raging but not yet at their worst, and 25-year old Tom Otter became the first to die during the flood when a rockslide fell on his truck near Philomath. Seven more lives were lost as high water beseiged our communities.

We have the State of the Union tonight. It’s on a 6 PM PST, whether you’re seeking it out or avoiding it like Portland’s Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who explained via Twitter: “Just like in past years, I plan to skip a speech that will be filled with lies, deception and divisiveness.” Fellow Democrat Suzanne Bonamici’s approach is different: she’s going, and inviting as a guest a PSU student who’s an organizer of actions against gun violence. On the other side is Oregon’s Greg Walden, who tweets, “Now it’s time for Congress to come together with the president on long term, bipartisan solutions to secure our borders and thwart illegal immigration.” Other members are bringing furloughed federal workers as guests, while the President has invited a boy named Joshua Trump, no relation, who says he’s been bullied so badly because of his name that he wants to change it. I’ll watch as I always have, just in case some new ground is carved.

A legislator from Klamath County is proposing that the Portland Trail Blazers change their name to the Oregon Trail Blazers. Focus, dude!

About twenty Reed College students have spent this winter creating the world’s largest stick of chalk. They’re waiting for the six-foot, 1000 pound tower of soggy plaster to dry before submitting it. (Or electing it. Couldn’t hurt).

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Home run king Hank Aaron was born this day in 1934. Though technically a new record was set 40 years later, by Barry Bonds, Aaron’s lifetime achievement of hammering 755 home runs continues to hold the major league mark in the minds of many because he did it without a little help from his friends, so to speak. Aaron is in the HOF. Bonds is not.

Did I tell you that my sister Jan is generously helping me with content research for the Daily Drip? She unearthed the following: Oregon got its first newspaper–the Oregon Spectator, based in Oregon City–on this date in 1846. That was our first printed newspaper. But there was a handwritten satire sheet circulated among the folks a year earlier, called the Flumgudgeon Gazette and Bumble Bee Budget. Which makes me feel less silly about the name of this thing.

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Everywhere life is full of heroism, says the good old Desiderata, so let’s back that up with true stories from the light side; links should be below, in the DD Coffee Cup.

–“Young refugees run into burning home to rescue family”

–“Police officer films 3 young men helping elderly woman: ‘She could have been my grandmother'”

–“Steward at soccer match praised for helping disabled fan to his feet to celebrate each goal as his team won 3-0”

–“‘Marie Kondo Effect’ floods thrift stores with donations”

–“The Love Story Behind L.A.’s Bunny Museum”

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By the way…Happy Lunar New Year! It’s the most joyous and colorful celebration for many Asian cultures, and there are celebrations for the next two weeks in Portland or wherever you may be. Today begins the Year of the Pig! I learn from Chinese astrology that ” Pig is mild and a lucky animal representing carefree fun, good fortune and wealth. Personality traits of the people born under the sign of the Pig are happy, easygoing, honest, trusting, educated, sincere and brave.” Sounds like a very good year!