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The Leaking Earth

A moss-covered weeping wall in the Columbia River Gorge

One of the things I love about the Pacific Northwest is the dense moss that grows in some of our wetter locations, in this case a weeping wall in the Columbia River Gorge. The water was dripping down from above but because it was coming out through the moss, it appeared as though the earth itself was leaking.

Silver Linings

A close-up of our dog Ellie in the snow at the Irving Park dog park in Portland, Oregon

I took some time off in November and December but didn’t get out hiking as much as I hoped as my stomach was a bit unsettled in the early going, plus we had some bad weather that I didn’t want to venture out in. The benefit was that I could take Ellie on long walks in the mornings during the week instead of just on the weekends. Sometimes I record our walks in my GPS app, with several overlaid on top of each other you can see how much of the neighborhood we canvas. We always go to the dog park first (upper left corner) and then south towards Broadway before winding our way back, mostly based on where she chooses to go and how much energy she has. Our walks are ringed in by the busy streets that I won’t let her cross, our neighborhood is relatively pedestrian-friendly but there are limits. She’s 13 years old but in pretty good shape all things considered, she typically can go for an hour to an hour and a half on these walks.

I’m off on Monday as well but then it’s back to the normal work, and walk, routine.

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Where Do I Live Again?

The snow-covered Subaru logo on the front of my XV Crosstrek

Our winters here in Portland are generally mild, but this fall has packed a bit of a punch at the end. We got a little bit of snow on Thursday a week and a half ago, and thankfully since I have some flexibility with vacation time right now, I was able to take the day off and let our dog Ellie enjoy the snow. But then as so often happens in Portland, we got some freezing rain and suddenly everything is coated in ice and trees and branches started falling all around our old neighborhood. We lost power a few times on Friday but never for too long. While walking Ellie I noticed a tree had fallen on a lovely old Mercedes a couple of streets over, completely crushing the back.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning while we were asleep the power kicked off and we didn’t get it back until that evening. Sadly the house was at its coolest when we lost power since we let it cool down at night, so I piled on extra layers and a hat until we had heat again. The house never got that cold so we weren’t exactly suffering, it was only down to 57 when the electricity returned.

This past week we got more snow, not very much but it arrived right before the evening rush hour and made a mess of everything. Fortunately I had also taken that day off but my wife wasn’t so lucky, since the train she was going to take home got shut down when some switches froze, she ended up spending the night at work. It’s going to warm tomorrow and the remaining ice should be gone, which will make a certain dog (and her walker) very happy, even if it takes the snow with it.

That’s enough winter weather for me this year, and winter hasn’t officially started yet!