It was an amazing summer but I have discovered that I missed something wonderful while I was away from Portland - get ready, you may not believe this - fabulous weather. Yes, reread that sentence - I am actually using the words fabulous, weather and Portland in the same sentence, something I never thought would happen. Apparently (unknown to me given that I moved here late last September) Portland has beautiful summers. The overcast gray skies have given way to bright, clear, dry, sunny weather. According to natives this miracle begins right after July 4 and continues through September, maybe into early October if we are lucky. I left in mid June so missed a lot of it but oh I am enjoying it since my return. Yep, I am stating for all the world to see - at this moment Portland has fabulous weather. Who knew?
I realize that I have not had good summer weather since my childhood. I grew up in Redwood City, CA. Its slogan, "Climate Best by Government Test," is accurate - it has great weather. I, unfortunately, didn't appreciate it; took it for granted. After we married, Gary and I moved to Connecticut, a beautiful state, absolutely charming, with gorgeous Autumns, but oh do you pay for it in summertime. It is HOT, sticky-hot, breathlessly-hot. You wear the humidity and - here is the true horror - it can stay sticky-hot all night long.
Then I moved back to California, to Pacific Grove (their motto - "Butterfly Town USA" - monarch butterflies winter there), where Monterey Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. It has unusual weather - no extreme heat or cold. It is in the 60s much of the year but that can make for some odd summer weather. Sometimes it is perfection - 75 degrees with a very slight ocean breeze - but it is often overcast and foggy and it can last for days. I don't joke when I say that I used my fireplace as often in summer as in winter and evenings are ALWAYS chilly from the ocean breeze.
I had become so used to the horror of New England and the oddity of Pacific Grove weathers that I forgot how truly lovely summer heat can be. I would describe heat here in Portland (get ready - "The City that Works" - and, for the most part, it does) as soft and, thankfully, quite dry. No humidity, not a drop of it. No glare because of all the trees. It is absolutely lovely during the day and, thank you all the gods above, it cools down at night. I guess I also love it because I know gray skies are not far away but, until then, I intend to enjoy every minute of this beautiful weather.
It is wonderful to be back with Wesley. He turned 3 at the end of August and, as always, I am fascinated with his growth (and how much I missed while I was gone). He is becoming lanky; the few remaining bits of baby fat are quickly disappearing and, I must admit, I miss those plump elbows and knees! But I love watching him run and jump in his brand new shoes (just in time for the new pre-school year) and demonstrate his developing physical skills. Today he showed me how he could walk along a path of raised bricks in his front yard. You all remember the stance: arms held out to provide balance, eyes cast down to monitor feet, tongue caught in teeth - all while looking up to wave me away,"I don't need help, Grandma, I don't!"
And language development - it continues to fascinate me. He likes words. When he hears a new one he will ask me what it means but, more often than not, figures out its meaning from the context of the sentence. He quickly adds new words or phrases to his vocabulary. "It's a mystery, Grandma" is used to describe anything he doesn't understand. "No, Grandma, it's not a jack, it's a stabilizer," when we look at drawings of trucks in his books. What I most enjoy, however, is that he is starting to use his Spanish (he goes to a bilingual day care) and he rolls his r's! You know - perrrrrrrrrro.
When he was first learning to talk he mixed the two languages together ("We have to wash our manos", "Bye, Grandma, hasta la vista", "More uvas, please"). Later, he kept them completely separate (he would sing the ABCs in Spanish after he sang them in English, would say all the colors in Spanish OR English). Now he likes to throw in a bit of Spanish for fun. I'll ask him if he can say something in Spanish and, if he can, he happily shares it. What is obvious to me is that he now understands that he is learning two different languages at the same time. He knows two words for the same thing - water and aqua, uvas and grapes and so on. What a gift his parents have given him. I think about how I struggled when learning French and Italian - and have terrible accents to boot. This is the way to do it. Learn while you are young.
What are the latest games we play? Right now he is really into trains, trucks, and airplanes. When we get home from preschool we set up a little airport area on the living room floor and then add roads and train tracks and a tin box to serve as a repair facility. I am in charge of the repairs. He sends me cars (or planes or helicopters or train cars) that supposedly need repair, I "fix" them and then he takes them back into play. He uses his wood car carrier to move the vehicles back and forth. He "flies" the planes to Hawaii or Colorado or Texas - all different destinations around the room. I told him I flew in a helicopter in Africa so I am often the person in his helicopter as he flies it over to the chair seat.
Thankfully he also still loves to sit with me and read a good book. I absolutely love all the new 3-year old behaviors but also know that I need a good snuggle fix at least once a day and the book reading provides it. So, I am quite content while playing air traffic controller and enjoying every second of the weather here in Portland. Again, who knew????
I realize that I have not had good summer weather since my childhood. I grew up in Redwood City, CA. Its slogan, "Climate Best by Government Test," is accurate - it has great weather. I, unfortunately, didn't appreciate it; took it for granted. After we married, Gary and I moved to Connecticut, a beautiful state, absolutely charming, with gorgeous Autumns, but oh do you pay for it in summertime. It is HOT, sticky-hot, breathlessly-hot. You wear the humidity and - here is the true horror - it can stay sticky-hot all night long.
Then I moved back to California, to Pacific Grove (their motto - "Butterfly Town USA" - monarch butterflies winter there), where Monterey Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. It has unusual weather - no extreme heat or cold. It is in the 60s much of the year but that can make for some odd summer weather. Sometimes it is perfection - 75 degrees with a very slight ocean breeze - but it is often overcast and foggy and it can last for days. I don't joke when I say that I used my fireplace as often in summer as in winter and evenings are ALWAYS chilly from the ocean breeze.
I had become so used to the horror of New England and the oddity of Pacific Grove weathers that I forgot how truly lovely summer heat can be. I would describe heat here in Portland (get ready - "The City that Works" - and, for the most part, it does) as soft and, thankfully, quite dry. No humidity, not a drop of it. No glare because of all the trees. It is absolutely lovely during the day and, thank you all the gods above, it cools down at night. I guess I also love it because I know gray skies are not far away but, until then, I intend to enjoy every minute of this beautiful weather.
It is wonderful to be back with Wesley. He turned 3 at the end of August and, as always, I am fascinated with his growth (and how much I missed while I was gone). He is becoming lanky; the few remaining bits of baby fat are quickly disappearing and, I must admit, I miss those plump elbows and knees! But I love watching him run and jump in his brand new shoes (just in time for the new pre-school year) and demonstrate his developing physical skills. Today he showed me how he could walk along a path of raised bricks in his front yard. You all remember the stance: arms held out to provide balance, eyes cast down to monitor feet, tongue caught in teeth - all while looking up to wave me away,"I don't need help, Grandma, I don't!"
And language development - it continues to fascinate me. He likes words. When he hears a new one he will ask me what it means but, more often than not, figures out its meaning from the context of the sentence. He quickly adds new words or phrases to his vocabulary. "It's a mystery, Grandma" is used to describe anything he doesn't understand. "No, Grandma, it's not a jack, it's a stabilizer," when we look at drawings of trucks in his books. What I most enjoy, however, is that he is starting to use his Spanish (he goes to a bilingual day care) and he rolls his r's! You know - perrrrrrrrrro.
When he was first learning to talk he mixed the two languages together ("We have to wash our manos", "Bye, Grandma, hasta la vista", "More uvas, please"). Later, he kept them completely separate (he would sing the ABCs in Spanish after he sang them in English, would say all the colors in Spanish OR English). Now he likes to throw in a bit of Spanish for fun. I'll ask him if he can say something in Spanish and, if he can, he happily shares it. What is obvious to me is that he now understands that he is learning two different languages at the same time. He knows two words for the same thing - water and aqua, uvas and grapes and so on. What a gift his parents have given him. I think about how I struggled when learning French and Italian - and have terrible accents to boot. This is the way to do it. Learn while you are young.
What are the latest games we play? Right now he is really into trains, trucks, and airplanes. When we get home from preschool we set up a little airport area on the living room floor and then add roads and train tracks and a tin box to serve as a repair facility. I am in charge of the repairs. He sends me cars (or planes or helicopters or train cars) that supposedly need repair, I "fix" them and then he takes them back into play. He uses his wood car carrier to move the vehicles back and forth. He "flies" the planes to Hawaii or Colorado or Texas - all different destinations around the room. I told him I flew in a helicopter in Africa so I am often the person in his helicopter as he flies it over to the chair seat.
Thankfully he also still loves to sit with me and read a good book. I absolutely love all the new 3-year old behaviors but also know that I need a good snuggle fix at least once a day and the book reading provides it. So, I am quite content while playing air traffic controller and enjoying every second of the weather here in Portland. Again, who knew????
No comments:
Post a Comment