Snow Day!

For everyone but me.  Really, we didn't have that much snow, but it doesn't take much for EVERYTHING to shut down here in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST!  Yes, NORTHwest!  Here is a photo taken from my office window.  I know you're jealous of my view.  On good days, I get to see a one-armed man trim hedges and sweep the parking lot of our neighboring building.  Today is not one of those days.  As you can see, we're in the midst of a blizzard here.

Not a half mile east of here, there is a car on it's side because he or she clearly couldn't handle these treacherous conditions: a flat road with some ice.  On Hwy 22, I saw a blazer on it's top.  It must have happened some time in the middle of the night because there was all sorts of crime scene tape around it.

It took me about 15 minutes longer than usual to get in to the office today, but if I couldn't make it I would have had to have rolled 15 times or broken a leg or something.  I pride myself on (a) my ability to parallel park and (b) my ability to drive in the snow and ice.  I grew up in The Dalles and if you wanted to go anywhere in the winter you had to learn how to drive in the snow and ice.  I don't recall our parents being worried that we wouldn't make it.  They probably were worried, but it was just something we had to do.

In college I moved to Eugene and when the first snow came, I was shocked that there were actual adults who did not know how to drive in snow.  We had less than 1 inch of snow and it was like the apocalypse. One day there was a snowball fight between two of the dorm buildings.  There was a street running between the two building and a car got stuck in the middle of this snowball fight.  So, naturally the kids stopped and helped this car diver out.  NOT.  First, they threw snowballs at the car until it was covered in snow.  Next then started rocking the car back and forth and finally, they turned it up on it's side.  The police had to come with tear gas to disperse the crowd.  Because it snowed.

I was house-sitting for friend Dan last week and I was so excited this past Saturday when I saw the first snow in the hills around his house.  Sunday afternoon we had a few flakes come down but nothing stuck.  It's always exciting to see the snow come...until you have to drive to work and subject yourself to the dimwits.

j