Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 763
ARE YOU READY? I was hoping that the frigid, possibly snowy, forecast would have warmed up and all the warnings for the super cold temperatures would have gone away by now, but nope— forecasters are still saying temperatures are going to plummet by the time you read this and you may need to be chipping ice or shoveling snow or both. My plan is to stay put and stay warm and I hope all of you who actually have to be out and about in the cold weather will find a way to stay warm and safe. Please keep your vehicle loaded with all the supplies y...
A BRAND NEW YEAR. Here we are in 2024, and it seems like 2023 just flew by! Now we will all have to get used to writing 2024 on everything, just when we've gotten used to writing 2023. At any rate, I hope you had a good New Year’s Eve and enjoyed a good time no matter what you did. I know I enjoyed my dinner out at our local restaurant but I didn't stay for the late-night festivities; I was one of many who opted to watch the new year come in from the comfort of my couch in my living room! I think getting older has something to do with that, b...
MERRY CHRISTMAS! As I begin to write, it is actually Christmas Day, a very wet and blustery one, so I hope my power stays on long enough to finish it up and send it in. There is a high wind warning for this evening, so I'm planning on “batting down the hatches” and hunkering down inside. I hope you're all enjoying the holiday and I hope to hear more about it once everyone settles back into their routine when Christmas is over. Christmas morning is only the beginning of the festivities for most folks; I hope all the dinner plans went well, you...
BITTER COLD. While my weather app was telling me that I was sitting in mid-forties temperatures this past weekend, the truth of it was that we were experiencing below freezing temperatures with lots of frost everywhere. So they were off just a wee bit. I was definitely bundling up and trying to stay warm while it slowly warmed up amid the call outs for power outages due to cars sliding around on the slick roads and those pesky power poles getting in the way. We are supposed to be getting rain for several days prior to Christmas. I hope it is...
PLENTY WET. We had heavy rain this past weekend and, with a little luck, the forecast for drier weather will prevail. While it won't be all dry, it's not supposed to be pouring rain every day either. Fingers crossed! SPECIAL DAYS. Celebrating birthdays this week are Fritz Carmine, Breanna Smith, Zachary Stewart, Sandy Bergseng, Tyson Webb Foster, Jim Webb, Abby Buennagel, Lynah Bergseng, Azula Hoven, Wesley Hoven, Kellie K. Masters, Riley Brown, Angel Brown, Isla Nortrup, Hillary Price, Sunnie Beard, Ruth Linquist, Kristen Souvenir, Barbara...
SPECIAL DAYS. Celebrating birthdays this week are Dennis Reid, Julie Iverson, Kitty Speranza, Carol McClain, Jai Snow, Tom Bosch, Cristina Moonen, Nora Sorenson, Gary Bergseng, Ryan Prestegard, Justin Watkins, Chris Barnes, Ron Hendrickson, Collin Parker, Todd Souvenir, Derek West, Lacey Johnson, Julie Burdick, Tyler Johnson, James Robinson, Donna Downing Christensen, Alexandra Wright, Patrice Everest Holtz and Lucy Owen. Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Mr. and Mrs. Zack Bonds and Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Vik. May all of you have terrific...
COLD ENOUGH? I guess it depends on where you live, but out in West Valley we were down in the lower twenties this past week and that’s plenty cold for me! It looks like we will be warming up later this week, though, so by the time you read this, it will have rained for several days. I’m not sure I like that either, but at least folks might not be sliding off the roadways on black ice. There was also freezing fog, which can take drivers by surprise. (But Skamokawa didn’t get its name from nothing; it means, “Smoke on the Water.”) There wer...
WET BEGINNING. As I started this column, it was a gloomy and damp Sunday morning after a very wet and windy Saturday night. Thankfully, by afternoon, we got to see some sunshine; that was a welcome break. By the time you read this, it's supposed to have been sunny and clear for several days. That will make for a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Of course, clear weather also seems to mean a big drop in our nighttime temperatures, so keep that in mind before you wind up with frozen hoses or outside spigots. Since we had several nights below freezing...
COLD AND WET. Well, if you're like me, the dampness we have had has made your bones ache. It's not just the cooler temperatures, but the feeling that we've been "chilled to the bone" with all that moisture that comes from the fog and the rain and the downpours. It looks like we may have some dry days this week but that also means temperatures will fall into the thirties, so there's always a trade -off when the clear days show up. However, by the weekend, it looks like a fifty-fifty shot at rain for multiple days. I'm sure my old bones will be...
PLENTY WET—If you have driven around much lately, you will probably have been driving in the rain, I hope with your headlights on, and you will have seen fields full of water here and there; we had some epic rainfall at the end of last week. This past week was supposed to be mostly wet with a couple of dry days while this coming week looks pretty soggy. I can only hope this forecast changes or I'll have to get out my boat to get anywhere! I hope you're all taking it easy as you travel to and fro during this wet weather, and watch for falling t...
VERY COLD—Well, I don't know about where you live, but out here in West Valley, we saw temperatures plummet down into the low twenties on both Friday and Saturday nights, and I can tell you that my old bones were not appreciative of such frigid conditions. While Fall is here and cooler and damper conditions are expected, these particular temperatures belong to Winter weather and I hope they will not become a frequent thing just yet, way too cold for me. The forecast several days after this comes out on Thursday, shows a very wet pattern so n...
CHILL COMING—It looks like temperatures are going to take a nosedive; we could be in for several days of near- or below-freezing temperatures. One had best prepare if you're out here in the sticks with exposed plumbing! The cold also means extra feed for your outdoor animals, as they need more to stay warm as well. It looks to be just a three day stretch of temps in the thirties, so that shouldn't be too bad. Let's hope for that "warmer winter" they've been talking about. SPECIAL DAYS—Celebrating birthdays this week are Maury Mooers, Mic...
WET BEGINNING—It was a wet and nasty Monday morning; I hope you were all able to stay dry, while we await the drying trend that is supposed to start Tuesday and last for several days. We've had some heavy morning fog on these drier days and it is my hope that everyone will turn their headlights on both day and night while driving. It is one of the easiest ways to practice defensive driving. Making yourself more visible during these foggy and rainy, low visible times is important and takes only a quick flick of a button or switch to keep you a...
IT WAS NICE, THEN IT WASN'T — It's that time of year when we get a few nice days and then we get a few wet days, so trying to get a lot of things done during the drier days is a challenge. I hope you’re prepared for winter mode as it can appear at any time and you don't want to be wish you'd been more prepared for outages, slides, road closures, flooding and all that other fun stuff we often get around here. SPECIAL DAYS — Folks celebrating birthdays this week are: Kalisha Mace, Cameron Collins, Heidi Heywood, Dixie Anderson, Randy Kuhn, Aron...
WHAT A STORM — Last week was exciting, and not in a good way. That wind that ripped through really did a number on dozens of trees, destroyed carports, and caused multiple power outages. West Valley wound up with a six-hour outage. Thankfully it wasn't in the midst of freezing weather or a foot of snow. Kudos to the lineman working from Altoona to Puget Island; since the downed trees have to be moved first, it's always a big job. Once again, Mother Nature has given us a heads and has shown us how prepared we are. Considering it is only O...
WET AND WINDY—I hope you have had your wind breakers and your rain jackets handy, along with some boots, as it appears we have had quite the little storm already, with more to come. If you’re like me, you are ready for it to be over! With power bumps, phone outages and internet outages, it’s been a real “fun” start to the week. Here’s hoping the promised weather shows up. Just think: winter has yet to begin, and I’m already moaning about the fall weather—ha! To top things off, my computer opted to update and do an entire change in its lo...
STILL PRETTY DRY--This past week saw temperatures back up in the high 80s, so it was pretty doggone toasty for September but things cooled down over the weekend; just mid 70s here, so that was quite nice. We had some brief drops of rain on Sunday and then a foggy, damp start to this work week so we got a snitch of moisture. Any of that is welcomed by my poor dried up lawn and thirsty plants! It looks like we are going to stay dry this week with those cooler but yet very nice temperatures, so we’ll see if that holds as they mentioned the p...
CLOUDY START--It’s a cloudy Sunday morning here in West Valley, which is certainly a big change from the day before when we woke up to bright sunshine and it wound up being a pretty day with temps in the mid-80’s. It’s a little more comfortable to do yardwork when one isn’t in the direct sunshine, so before the rains come, I hope you were able to take advantage of the dry and cooler temps so you didn’t get burned to a crisp! Forecasters are saying we’ll have a pretty mild week, so I guess I’ll have no excuses not to do some outdoor things prior...
COOLER--As Labor Day begins, it’s cloudy and cool and according to the forecast, looks to last all week so those toasty, hot days that we had last week aren’t likely to reappear. As we all know, we can get a change in our forecast in a hot second. We weren’t supposed to have any rain on Sunday, but we did. We really needed the rain, so when we got some, many of us weren’t too upset, but others, with big plans and outdoor venues were a lot less thrilled to see it arrive. That’s Washington weather for you! SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrati...
COOLING DOWN--As I begin this column on Sunday morning, it is cloudy, cool and calm and we’re not worried about getting unbearably hot, so that’s okay with me, as those 90 to 100 degree temperatures were too much for me. The forecasters say we may get some rain, so we’ll see how that plays out. Fires are destroying acres of timberland, which is a tragedy for all of us, animals included. As always, be mindful of the fire restrictions that are currently in place in our area. SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays Aug. 31-Sept. 6 are Nanea...
STILL DRY--It looks like our dry streak is continuing but the temperatures have at least gone down to a more bearable range, as those 100 plus degree days we had were just brutal. I hate to wish for rain, as there are several upcoming events that would not enjoy it, but maybe we could get a bit prior to those as we are definitely tinder dry, which considering the fires everywhere right now, is quite concerning. I hope you’ll all heed the burn ban in the county right now. SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays this coming week, from August 2...
HOT ENOUGH?--I hope you were all prepared for the toasty conditions that we are scheduled to receive. It’s no fun being unprepared for scorching temperatures for ourselves and our four legged friends . It was already 80 degrees before 10 a.m. on Sunday.We knew we were in for some heat and more is expected ugh! As the weather is supposed to cool off some by the time you read this, more warm days could always follow, so please keep yourselves and your critters hydrated. We humans also need electrolytes to replenish what we lose when we’re swe...
MIXED WEATHER--While we have some clouds to start this work week, they say we’ll be heating up and drying. Personally, I really enjoyed the cool down. Of course, the cool down wasn’t too severe and our evening hours were still warm and a bit muggy at times. As always, our West Valley weather can be completely different from those just two miles up the road, so we just never know what we’ll run into when we leave the house. I do know that if it really rains mid-week like is forecast, I will be loving it and so will my plants. The heat is suppo...
NEW MONTH--A new month has begun and it’s fairly shocking to realize just how fast the time has gone by. I think my winter chores in January have yet to be accomplished so I’m way behind the eight ball this year! This week looks to be dry with only a hint of cloudiness, and temperatures more to my liking, so I hope you’re enjoying the sunny days. Here’s hoping these 70s stick with us at fair time as that would be nice and comfy. SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from August 3-9 are Austin Smith, John L. McClain, Brian McClain, Treasur...
END OF ANOTHER MONTH--We’ll wrap up July and begin August on Monday and I’m still not done with my pre-Springtime chores; yikes! Now that it's hotter, the summer chores haven’t been done either as it’s too hot for me to work outside, so I feel for all of you who have to do that. The dampness we got on Monday morning was actually quite refreshing, but the rest of the week is going to be dry and toasty, so here’s hoping you’ve been slathering on the sunscreen and keeping yourself hydrated. Remember to reapply sunscreen every couple of hours or...
