When the wind does decide to blow, it does so for days at a time. It's as if the Columbia River Gorge is a gigantic wind champagne bottle, and Troutdale is where the cork is supposed to go. The resulting blast is, well, BREATHTAKING.
Garbage day is an adventure in bricks, bungee cords, and commuting garbage cans. The bricks are placed on top of the recycling bins. The bungee cords are used to attach your garbage can to the tree in the parking strip.
During our rookie year in Troutdale, I neglected to put a brick on top of our recycling container on garbage day. When I came home from work, the container was gone. We live next to a berry field, so I figured the recycling container blew into the field. I hiked out into the muddy field, and came across bottles, cans, lots of newspapers and magazines, a couple of 32 gallon trash cans, and even a complete Waterpik system. But no recycling bin.
We don't bother raking the leaves. They go away all by themselves. We have had 4x4 backyard fenceposts snapped by the wind. We solved that problem with a chain/stake support that takes some of the load off the fenceposts. My eventual goal is to utilize the three little pigs principle of fence building and replace the wood fence with a brick fence, at least on the west and east sides of the yard.
We had dinner over at a friend's house last night. Their dining room window faces the east. All night long, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the dining room picture window bow in and out with the wind. You trust the engineers who designed the window, but the tiny little mustard seeds of uncertainty and doubt do amazing things while you're sitting next to a moving window!
For your reading pleasure, click on the Troutdale hourly weather observations. Notice the gusts of 43 and 46 mph early Saturday morning, November 19. Now where did that cork go, anyway. . .
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