**PNW Version of the Winter Storm**

I am sitting at home waiting for my fence to blow over. Normally I wouldn't be fixated on such a thing, but I figure, hey the house is on the market, a big storm is here, there obviously is going to be damage to the house - roof shingles gone, skylights blown away, the fence.... S. is at the coast working and I can't reach him. Verizon service died last night. Can't reach him on Cingular. Land lines are out. Power is out. All the roads to the coast are blocked by trees. Highway 101 is flooded at the north end of town. I may not hear from him for a couple days at this rate. I am sure he is running from farm to farm with generators so farmers can milk.


Maybe the saddest loss of this storm is the Sitka Spruce in Seaside. It was the oldest tree in Oregon and the largest Sitka Spruce in the United States. 206 ft. tall. 52 ft. circumference. 750 years old.


Before: (taken last summer - the top had already broken off from damage during the storm in Dec. 2006). There were plans to cut it down because it was unsafe, but ultimately it was blocked off and allowed to finish out its life naturally.


After: Taken by a brave KATU photog, it didn't survive the Dec. 2007 storm. It looks like it broke about a third of the way up the trunk.

**My new school**

I saw this video on a political blog run by students where I will be teaching this spring. I was filled with pride to know students come across stuff like this and let the rest of us people - who don't have hours to burn - know about it.

I hope they take my classes cause I already like them. How could I not after they dig up this amazing piece on the fundamental flaw of evolution, illustrated with a jar of peanut butter.

I love the web.

**Maraschino Cherries**

As the countdown to THE MOVE continues, I looked at some of the random jars sitting in the door of my NEW fridge (story for another time but it definitely involves Murphy's Law), I came across a jar of maraschino cherries. I opened the jar and popped one in my mouth. I have no memory of buying them which might be one indicator of how old they might be. But the shelf life of these things must be extraordinay given the dye and preservatives.

The taste of them was like brought on a time warp and I was in the kitchen of my grandparents' summer home on Long Island. Somewhere in the late afternoon (probably when the grown-ups were prepping for a marathon cocktail hour after an afternoon on the beach) my grandfather would take me into the kitchen and give me a maraschino cherry with a stem. I would suck on it and then chew it slowly to make the flavor last as long as possible. It was a signature summer ritual with my grandfather. That and feeding the racoons dinner scraps:)

**Just this one- the Fox logo on my blog**

My son pointed out this awesome recording of the Star Spangled Banner by John Williams and this was the best version I could find. While I still wish our national anthem was "America the Beautiful," this version of the anthem is inspiring. Maybe we could keep the melody and just change the lyrics.

**The stuff of bad dreams**

Watching the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. Am I really moving to a state that does this? It is like a helium-induced, lip-synched nightmare.

Need an antidote. Now.