Doors

 

The Door

By Charles Tomlinson  (1927-2015)

Too little
has been said
Of the door, it’s one
face turned to the night’s
downpour and its other
to the shift and glistens of firelight.

Air, clasped
by this cover
into the room’s book,
is filled by the turning
pages of dark and fire
as the wind shoulders the panels,
or unsteadies that burning. 

Not only
the storm’s
breakwater, but the sudden
frontier to our concurrences, appearances,
and as full of the offer of space
as the view through a cromlech is.

For doors
are both frame and monument
to our spent time,
and too little
has been said
of our coming through and leaving by them.

 

Gardening Information for Vancouver, Washington

Repost from 2000:

It is now raining heavily in Vancouver, Washington.  The Cascades will get some heavy snow at the higher altitudes.  Temperatures in the 40's.  

The annual average rainfall (AAR) in the different places I have lived is of note for me:

1946-1967  Unincorporated East Los Angeles, Bandini Neighborhood/Varrio,
                  City of Commerce, Southern California   AAR = 15”
1948-1958  Karen grew up in Alexandria, Central Indiana   AAR = 42"
1969-1973  Biloxi, Mississippi   AAR = 65”
1973-1983  Bell Gardens, Southern California   AAR =  15”
1983-1998  Hacienda Heights, California   AAR = 15”
1998-2017  Red Bluff, Northern California   AAR = 25”
2017–         Vancouver, Southwestern Washington, Northwest USA  AAR = 42”


Vancouver, Washington, is rated as USDA Agricultural Zone 8B.

Zone 8b means that the average minimum winter temperature is 15 to 20 °F. 

Gardening Information for Vancouver, Washington:  

Understanding your gardening environment is essential to success.  What are the climate conditions in your area during a year's cycle?  What is the soil like?
What kinds of plants are grown successfully in your area?  What nurseries are nearby.  

Vancouver, Washington, USA, Zip Code: 98662

Hardiness Zone:  Zone 8a: 10F to 15F

Average First Frost:  October 21 - 31

Average Last Frost:  April 1 - 10

Koppen-Geiger Climate Zone:  Csb - Warm-Summer Mediterranean Climate

Ecoregion:  3a - Portland Vancouver Basin

Palmer Drought Index:  Extremely Moist

Average Annual Rainfall:  43.55 inches

Heat Zone Days:  Rare Over 86F 

Elevation:  171 feet above the Pacific Ocean

Soil:  

Nurseries:  Yard and Garden, Shorty's, Tsugawa in Woodland, Lowe's and Home Depot.  

General Geography: 

The Pacific Ocean and Astoria, Oregon, is 100 miles to the West from Vancouver.
The south side of the City of Vancouver is the Columbia River, and across the river is Portland, Oregon.  The Cascade range and Columbia Gorge is to the East.  Looking north: 165 miles to Seattle, 494 miles to Vancouver, Canada; 105 miles to Olympia, and 45 miles to Mt. St. Helens.  

January Average: 33F low, 46F high, 6" Rain

February Average: 35F low, 50F high, 4.99" Rain

March Average: 37F low, 56F high, 4.38" Rain

April Average:  40F low, 60F high, 3.28" Rain

May Average:  45F low, 67F high, 2.67" Rain

June Average:  50F low, 72F high, 1.88" Rain

July Average:  53F low, 79F high, .8" Rain

August Average:  57F low, 82F high, .5" Rain

September Average:  49F low, 75F high, 1.91" Rain

October Average:  42F low, 64F high, 3.41" Rain

November Average:  38F low, 52F high, 6.49" Rain

December Average:  34F low, 46F high, 6.68" Rain

Yearly Averages:  42F low, 62F high, 43.55" Rain


The Spirit of Gardening

Gardening in Red Bluff, California

Colors in the Garden: Vancouver, WA

Gardening in Vancouver, Washington

Gardening in Vancouver, Washington

Gardening Information

Understanding your gardening environment is essential to success.  What are the climate conditions in your area during a year's cycle?  What is the soil like?
What kinds of plants are grown successfully in your area?  What nurseries are nearby.  

Vancouver, Washington, USA, Zip Code: 98662

Hardiness Zone:  Zone 8a: 10F to 15F

Average First Frost:  October 21 - 31

Average Last Frost:  April 1 - 10

Koppen-Geiger Climate Zone:  Csb - Warm-Summer Mediterranean Climate

Ecoregion:  3a - Portland Vancouver Basin

Palmer Drought Index:  Extremely Moist

Average Annual Rainfall:  43.55 inches

Heat Zone Days:  Rare Over 86F 

Elevation:  171 feet above the Pacific Ocean

Soil:  

Nurseries:  Yard and Garden, Shorty's, Tsugawa in Woodland, Lowe's and Home Depot.  

General Geography: 

The Pacific Ocean and Astoria, Oregon, is 100 miles to the West from Vancouver.
The south side of the City of Vancouver is the Columbia River, and across the river is Portland, Oregon.  The Cascade range and Columbia Gorge is to the East.  Looking north: 165 miles to Seattle, 494 miles to Vancouver, Canada; 105 miles to Olympia, and 45 miles to Mt. St. Helens.  

January Average: 33F low, 46F high, 6" Rain

February Average: 35F low, 50F high, 4.99" Rain

March Average: 37F low, 56F high, 4.38" Rain

April Average:  40F low, 60F high, 3.28" Rain

May Average:  45F low, 67F high, 2.67" Rain

June Average:  50F low, 72F high, 1.88" Rain

July Average:  53F low, 79F high, .8" Rain

August Average:  57F low, 82F high, .5" Rain

September Average:  49F low, 75F high, 1.91" Rain

October Average:  42F low, 64F high, 3.41" Rain

November Average:  38F low, 52F high, 6.49" Rain

December Average:  34F low, 46F high, 6.68" Rain

Yearly Averages:  42F low, 62F high, 43.55" Rain


The Spirit of Gardening

Gardening in Red Bluff, California

Colors in the Garden: Vancouver, WA

Weather in Vancouver, Washington

The City of Vancouver, in Clark County, Washington, USA, is situated on the north side of the Columbia River, directly across form the large City of Portland, Oregon, on the south side of the Columbia River.  Portland and Vancouver have the same weather.

Karen and I live in the Orchards neighborhood, northeast of the City of Vancouver, in Clark County, about 7 miles north of the Columbia River along the 205 Freeway.
We can see both Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens from our area.

Average Annual Precipitation: 43.55 Inches (Some sources say 39 Inches) 

Number of Days Per Year with a Trace or More of Precipitation: 151

Number of Cloudy Days: 229

Vancouver, Washington, USA, Zip Code: 98662

Hardiness Zone:  Zone 8a: 10F to 15F

Average First Frost:  October 21 - 31

Average Last Frost:  April 1 - 10

Koppen-Geiger Climate Zone:  Csb - Warm-Summer Mediterranean Climate

Ecoregion:  3a - Portland Vancouver Basin

Palmer Drought Index:  Extremely Moist

Average Annual Rainfall:  43.55 inches

Heat Zone Days:  Rare Over 86F 

Elevation:  171 feet above the Pacific Ocean

General Geography: 

The Pacific Ocean and Astoria, Oregon, is 100 miles to the West from Vancouver, along the Columbia River. The south side of the City of Vancouver is the Columbia River, and across the river is Portland, Oregon. The Cascade range and Columbia Gorge is to the East. Looking north:165 miles to Seattle, 307 miles to Vancouver, Canada; 105 miles to Olympia, and 45 miles to Mt. St. Helens.

January Average: 33F low, 46F high, 6" Rain

February Average: 35F low, 50F high, 4.99" Rain

March Average: 37F low, 56F high, 4.38" Rain

April Average:  40F low, 60F high, 3.28" Rain

May Average:  45F low, 67F high, 2.67" Rain

June Average:  50F low, 72F high, 1.88" Rain

July Average:  53F low, 79F high, .8" Rain

August Average:  57F low, 82F high, .5" Rain

September Average:  49F low, 75F high, 1.91" Rain

October Average:  42F low, 64F high, 3.41" Rain

November Average:  38F low, 52F high, 6.49" Rain

December Average:  34F low, 46F high, 6.68" Rain

Yearly Averages:  42F low, 62F high, 43.55" Rain


The Spirit of Gardening

Gardening Information for Vancouver WA.

Gardening in Red Bluff, California

Colors in the Garden: Vancouver, WA

Gardening in Vancouver, Washington

The Weather of the Pacific Northwest. By Cliff Mass. University of Washington Press, 2021, 299 pages,  Second Edition. FVRL. Excellent overview, lots of photographs, for the lay reader but very thorough.

Rains All the Time: A Connoisseur's History of Weather in the Pacific Northwest. By David Laskin. 1997, 215 pages.

A Cold Day in May

 

The Fireplace Records, Chapter 26

A Cold Day in May

Related Links, Resources, References

Koans: TFR 24

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Dialogues.

The Daodejing by Laozi  

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo

Subject Index to 1,001 Zen Buddhist Koans

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

Taoism

Buddhism

Fireplaces, Stoves, Campfires, Kitchens, Pots, Firewood

Chinese Art

Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong

Meditation Methods

Zen Koan Books I Use

Koan Database Project

Brief Spiritual Lessons Database Project: Subject Indexes

Sparks: Brief Spiritual Lessons and Stories

Matches to Start a Kindling of Insight
May the Light from Your Inner Fireplace Help All Beings
Taoist, Chan Buddhist, Zen Buddhist, Philosophers
Catching Phrases, Inspiring Verses, Koans, Meditations
Indexing, Bibliography, Quotations, Notes, Resources
Research by Michael P. Garofalo

The Fireplace Records
By Michael P. Garofalo

Subject Index to 1,001 Zen Buddhist Koans

What Runs But Never Gets Tired?

The annual average rainfall (AAR) in the different places I have lived is of note for me:

1946-1967  Unincorporated East Los Angeles, Bandini Neighborhood/Varrio,
                  City of Commerce, Southern California   AAR = 15”
1948-1958  Karen grew up in Alexandria, Central Indiana   AAR = 42"
1969-1973  Biloxi, Mississippi   AAR = 65”
1973-1983  Bell Gardens, Southern California   AAR =  15”
1983-1998  Hacienda Heights, California   AAR = 15”
1998-2017  Red Bluff, Northern California   AAR = 25”
2017–         Vancouver, Southwestern Washington, Northwest USA  AAR = 42”


Vancouver, Washington, is rated as USDA Agricultural Zone 8B.

Zone 8b means that the average minimum winter temperature is 15 to 20 °F. 


"Ancient traditions have long associated holy wells and springs as very special places of the Goddess or anima mundi: symbolic of the Great Mother and associated with birth, the feminine principle, the universal womb, the prima materia, the waters of fertility and refreshment and the fountain of life. The dreaming sites, as they are called, have also been associated with visions, healing, and other paranormal experiences. In ancient Greece, for example, there were more than three-hundred medical centers placed at water sources, where patients experienced healing."
- Christopher and Tricia McDowell, The Sanctuary Garden, 1998, p. 62

"Day after day we looked for rain, and day after day we saw nothing but the sun. Lavender that we had planted in the spring died. The patch of grass in front of the house abandoned its ambitions to become a lawn and turned into the dirty yellow of poor straw. The earth shrank, revealing its knuckles and bones, rocks and roots that had been invisible before."
-  Peter Mayle

Water and Rain: Quotations, Sayings, Thoughts

What runs but never gets tired?
Water

"Water is the driver of Nature."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Interstate 5 Highway Bridge from Vancouver, Washington to Portland, Oregon.  

This bridge crosses the Columbia River.  

Columbia River Valley

Mt. Hood and Hood River Valley, Oregon
The Hood River flows into the Columbia River.

Astoria, Oregon, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Snowing in Vancouver

It has been snowing since Thursday (2/11).  There is now 10 inches of snow in our area.  Snow will continue until Monday.  This is the most snow we have ever seen around any of our homes. 

Our west side garden covered in snow.
This picture was taken on 2/12

The west side garden on 2/9.

Rainy Day in the Valley

We are today getting some rain from a large storm coming up from the South Pacific into California.  Local communities in the Valley got some snow last night.  Temperatures here are between 35F and 55F.  We expect considerable snow in the mountains above 3,000 feet.  

A day for some home chores, reading, exercise, and listening to the storm outside.  

December: Quotes, Poems, Sayings 

Water and Rain: Quotations, Poems, Sayings, Facts


"I have been one acquainted with the night
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain
I have out-walked the furthest city light
I have looked down the saddest city lane
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say goodbye;
And further still at an unearthly height;
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night."
-   Robert Frost, Acquainted with the Night


"Water, the Hub of Life. Water is its mater and matrix, mother and medium. Water is the most extraordinary substance! Practically all its properties are anomalous, which enabled life to use it as building material for its machinery. Life is water dancing to the tune of solids.
 -  Albert Szent-Gyorgyi  

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life."-  John Updike

I originally posted this to this Cloud Hands Blog in December of 2016.  

New Winter Experiences

I lived in the East Los Angeles metropolitan area from 1946-1998, and in Red Bluff, California, from 1998-2017.   We rarely saw snow fall and it melted quickly in these areas.  We always had to drive up into the mountains, e.g., the San Gabriel or San Gorgonio Mountains in the LA area, or Mt. Lassen or Mt. Shasta in Red Bluff if we wanted to play in and enjoy the snow.

Here in Vancouver, Washington, where we live now, snowing is a more common occurrence.  I think that last year Vancouver had about 8 - 10 inches of snow.  The nearby foothills and mountains (Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Ranier, and Mt. Hood of the Cascades) have lots of snow. 

Last night, about three inches fell as temperatures dropped and the cold front rolled into the Northeast Pacific Coast region.

We live about 500 miles north of Red Bluff, and 300 miles south from Vancouver, Canada.

What Do They Here?

"But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster─tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?"
- Herman Melville, 1851, Moby Dick, p. 13

Could we not add, in 2017, transfixed by televisions, glued to computers, plugged into AC/DC, moving things endlessly, wrapped in chores, ... "What do they here?"


So, what we are doing here is moving into our home in Vancouver, Washington. Our realtor gave us the keys to the house today.  

Living in a nice home, in an established neighborhood, will be one foundation of our upcoming experiences and adventures.  

Lots of family have volunteered to help us move.  I've hired movers to transport our stored belongings from Red Bluff to Vancouver.  We will hire other people as needed to help us move into the house.  

Personally, with my left arm, I cannot lift objects over ten pounds, push or pull vigorously, or lift my elbow above my shoulder.  These restrictions, because of my recent 6/6 heart pacemaker implant, will last until July 10th or later as needed.  I seem to be doing fairly well thus far.
  

^^^^

Vancouver, Washington, Northwest USA is located in the Columbia River Valley. The general area has variety of many big plants: evergreens and deciduous trees, ornamentals, shrubs, broad leafs, pines, firs, spruces, cedars.  Trees are everywhere here in the "Evergreen State."  This is quite a dramatic contrast with the North Sacramento Valley orchards and farms where we lived for the last 19 years.  For anything to live in Red Bluff, we needed irrigation for seven months of the year.   

Annual Rainfall (Average) in places we have lived:

Los Angeles, California        14.93 inches 

Red Bluff, California            24.52 inches

Biloxi, Mississippi                64.89 inches 

Vancouver, Washington        39.30 inches

Alexandria, Indiana             41.00 inches


^^^^^