I was soaked to the bone after this morning’s run in the rain. The “Pineapple Express” that they had been talking about on the radio has officially arrived in Portland. I’m just glad we didn’t get the “Polar Express.” When I think of pineapples, the first thing that comes to mind is tropical sunshine, certainly not rain. The pineapple is also the symbol of hospitality, and rain as far as I’m concerned is not a welcome sight. By the same token, I’ve never heard the phrase “raining pineapples.” That would hurt! As a result, I got a bit curious about the use of the words, “Pineapple Express.”  

According to Wikipedia, “Pineapple Express” is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of atmospheric moisture and associated with heavy precipitation from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands and extending to any location along the Pacific coast of North America. It’s over 2,500 miles from Portland to Hawaii, so fortunately the “Pineapple  Express” arrives only occasionally in our area. Its last presence was three years ago.

Pineapple Express is also a 2008 American stoner action comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and starring Rogen and James Franco. The plot concerns a process server and his marijuana dealer as they are forced to flee from hit men and a corrupt police officer after witnessing them commit a murder. I have not watched this movie, but I will add it to my retirement list.

Finally, Pineapple Express is classified technically as a well balanced sativa dominant hybrid, with a ratio of 60% sativa and 40% indica. The Pineapple Express strain’s parental lineage originates from a breeding of the land race sativa Hawaiian strain and the hybrid strain Trainwreck. This explains the name of the movie. 

As you can see, Portland and the pineapple have several associations. I’m just glad that all I was dodging this morning were rain drops and not pineapples falling from the sky.  As the day went on, however, the temperatures warmed up into the high 50’s as “The Express” also delivered some of that distant tropical heat to our area. It was not warm enough for a luau, but we at least enjoyed warmer than normal temperatures and a couple of short sun-breaks.