Winter Storm ‘06

I love Seattle. I love that the newscasters here are so dramatic. Whenever a big storm front drops buckets of rain, the news begins with the heading like a horror flick…….. enter, scary music…..Winter Storm 06’…..then the footage rolls, flashing the carnage, or well, the floods, followed by the snow and ice and all the stranded drivers, stopping to put chains on, in less than 1 inch of snow. I will admit and give Seattle credit; I mean, we don’t usually get snow, so most people don’t know how to handle it, and I was one of them until this year, now that I have an Ithaca winter or two under my belt. I wouldn’t say that I am an experienced snow driver, but I have to laugh, in the land of SUV’s and Subaru AWD’s, when I see that people have chains on, when really, there isn’t much snow at all on the roadways…just a little ice.

The other morning, I was driving very cautiously to work and I passed car, upon car, upon car…abandoned haphazardly on the side of the road. Schools have closed, and at the restaurant, reservations were cancelled, staff members were MIA…and, today, the restaurant declared a snow day*. This never happened in Ithaca, even when I drove to work in the morning after a night of blizzard. I remember even trying to manuever into a parking space at Pangea, before the snow plow had come. I parked and literally had to dig myself out of the car and to the back door to the kitchen. It is interesting to think of how life goes on in certain places, how so much snow can be an everyday normality, and in other places, the city just grinds to a halt. I have to say that I like it though. That the city grinds to a halt. In the winter when snow shuts down the roads, I have fond memories of sledding down Queen Anne Hill on a slab of cardboard while the rest of the Queen Anne residents partook in some skiing, couch sledding or just watching with Hot Chocolate in hand. It is on these kinds of days that I feel such a sense of community. Every one comes out of hibernation and is having fun. It seems to create a bond between people, especially in the winter months, which can be so dismal here. I think too, that people here just welcome a change in weather from the typical Seattle winter. It is nice to have a break from the rain, especially this month, where we are ever so close to breaking the 1933 record for the most rainfall in one month..EVER. (15.33 inches)

*So, back to the fact that I have today off.. I have already made my rounds for the day..a little window shopping, a hot chocolate, an afternoon jog that I havent gotten around to just yet….and, I really am in the mood for some warm and freshly baked Molasses cookies.

I think that jog might have to wait.