Export Elevator Project

Here are construction photos of the grain export elevator project in Longview, Washington that I (Mark) have been involved in for the past 5 years, and is the primary purpose for our transfer to China. Construction started in June 2009 and is expected to complete in Fall 2011. It is the first grain export terminal to be built in the USA since 1983. Growing export demand, fueled by economic growth in Asia, in addition to the (USA) agricultural industry's propensity to continuously expand production, has prompted the need for more grain handling capacity. It is exciting to the project move forward into reality. The silo tanks seen in the photos are 140 feet tall and will altogether hold just under 5 million bushels of grain & oilseeds. The first set of 12 was complete in November, and 2nd set in December. The final set will be complete next month.

Alayna is playing the first violin part of the Concerto for Two Violins by Johann Sebastian Bach, with her teacher, Qiao Laoshi, on second violin. She polished this piece just as she was transitioning to a full size violin, so there are a few intonation problems. She performed the second violin part to the same song just before we moved here last February (see March 2009 blog). My video camera battery made it to the 3rd to last note of the song, so if you make it all the way through (it's pretty long!), you'll have to hum the last two notes.

Lanie also plays the traditional Chinese string instrument called the Erhu. Her teacher says she's the fastest learner he's ever taught, but that comes from her years of violin (and viola) training. It's the logical choice for a string player because it is also tuned in 5ths. I tried to rotate this video, but apparently there are limitations to our video camera (or the operator!).