Democracy for Vancouver

And rotten weekend weather isn’t the half of it:

Storm snaps world’s tallest Sitka spruce

Associated Press - December 3, 2007 1:05 AM ET

SEASIDE, Ore. (AP) - The world’s tallest Sitka spruce near Seaside survived 700 years of storms and a threat from chain saws, but it wasn’t up to today’s powerful winds.

The roadside attraction in Kloochy Creek County Park snapped in half, high above the ground.

KATU-TV reports that the spruce was badly damaged during a windstorm last year and officials had pondered cutting it down for safety reasons, but decided to let nature have it’s way.

Yesterday, nature did.

The 200-foot-tall tree, which was a sapling at the time of the Crusades, drew about 100,000 visitors a year.

Clatsop county kept visitors in the last year a safe distance from the forest giant.

We have visited this spruce almost every time we’ve gone to the coast. It was impressive - but unfortunately so was the storm we had over the weekend: winds peaked at 96 m.p.h. on the Oregon coast, and the Columbia River bar has been closed to ship traffic since Saturday night.

So, no Christmas tree for us yet, our neighbor’s 4-foot plastic light-up Santa is missing and presumed dead, and our greyhound Boomer nearly burst trying to avoid going out into the storm. There’s nothing more pitiful than a big dog caught between the urgency of his bladder and the anxieties of his brain.

How was your weekend?