Item #1: The dust is gone
Thin blue line is the west coast; black arrow movement.
When we moved to the Northwest there was a weather event called “The Pineapple Express.” This is considered a non-technical term, so says Wikipedia: Find Here.
The accepted term now is an atmospheric river, originating over the Pacific ocean with a strong and persistent flow of moisture and, when encountering the mountains of Oregon and Washington, heavy precipitation follows. Note the words persistent and heavy.
Often the atmospheric river can begin near the Hawaiian Islands, once known for the Pineapples grown there, and suggesting the name. Despite what can be found on the Web, the State is not now one of the top producing areas. The last pineapple cannery on Hawaii closed in 2006 and now only fresh pineapples are exported. Tourists, not pineapples, are important to the State’s economy.
The good news is it has rained. The not so good news – lots of rain; 7 inches and still falling.
Not only that, but the high mountains have gotten several inches of snow. For us on the Naneum Fan, Sunday should start a sunny week.
Item #2: Coincidence?
One of the few plants not blooming in early May when frost zapped most things were thornless Blackberries. I have a small planting, and they are now ripening. The photo is from the web, however. I picked two pounds.
Today, our COSTCO Connections magazine arrived. There is a recipe for crockpot Blackberry cobbler. When I get up in the morning the temperature is likely to be just about 40°F.
Cobbler on a cool morning sounds like a good idea. Wish me luck.
Item #3: Where have all the hurricanes gone? 
I just checked the National Hurricane web site. The area where storms begin (off the coast of Africa) to the US Gulf and East coasts is blank. Officials have been giving names to storms that don’t amount to much. They ran out of names. The Greek letters were needed.
Storm Alpha formed north of the usual location, at a Latitude about the same as Paris. Then it slowly went south and east, to encounter Portugal.
When the next storm was named Beta, reactions from numerous folks was: What? Where’s Alpha? [Okay, maybe not hundreds, but Dot and I thought this.]
Beta, on the other hand, moved so slowly it was like watching lichen grow. The phrase “inching toward Texas” was seen. Then it inched toward Nashville. So Beta, too, is gone but not forgotten. Slow moving, and lots of rain.
Item #4: Funny
The caption with this photo was:
“And then he said – “Let’s pee on the cat”; and we did. ”
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Who sits around and thinks of this stuff?
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Item #5: There’s a word for that
A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget’s Thesaurus crashed as it left a New York warehouse.
According to the Associated Press, witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, punchy, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, boggled, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, and perplexed.
And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John