Blue Sky in Oregon ?!?!

Sometimes I think of Mount Hood as sort of the Snuffleuphagus (sp?) of Oregon. Those connoisseurs of 70's-80's vintage Sesame Street among us will remember the era when Big Bird was the only one who ever saw the big fluffy elephant, causing everyone in the neighborhood to think Snuffy was just an imaginary friend, and resulting in everyone patronizing Big Bird in a slightly insulting way: "Of course you have an orange dump-truck sized hairy elephant for a best friend that no-one else has ever happened to see." [I've been told that now everyone in the 'hood sees Snuffy -- another innocence of my childhood gone forever *sigh*] Anyway, Mt Hood is the most impressive peak in the Portland Metro area and the Willamette Valley: the quintessential vista, the city landmark, and the subject of many a postcard. The irony, however, is that you can so rarely see Mt Hood through all the rain and fog in the winter (November to June). I feel like Big Bird must have felt whenever I try to point the peak out to someone: "And that's Mt Hood over there. . . Really, there's a giant glaciated mountain just to the east there . . . Yes, of course you can see it from town, it's really big . . . Just keep staring -- eventually the clouds will break a bit." So here's a picture of summertime Mt Hood -- Just to prove to you all that it really exists, and to remind me (as winter approaches and it gets soggier and soggier here) that Oregon is pretty impressive in the summertime.