Snow Fun

I last posted a week ago Sunday, when the snow started falling. Here we are almost ten days later, and that initial snowfall seems balmy and bucolic by comparison. The headline above is from this morning's paper. It's snowed almost daily for the last week and a half. Until today, when we did nudge 32 degrees, temps have remained well below freezing. I'm tired of the cold, the cancellations, the constraints on getting around. Whiiiine.....

But the wintry weather does have its compensations. It's beautiful, of course; I put up a bunch of mostly-artsy pics on flickr. And it's primo weather for hot-tubbing. Squint and you could be at an expensive ski resort in Vail or Aspen, a handsome cowboy waiting for you in the steamy water:


We've been walking every day, as usual, breaking through the crunchy crust, trying not to slip as we follow foot-deep vehicle tracks on the mostly-deserted streets. I spotted this vanity plate (below) just around the corner from us. Yes: visualize rain!

I made up a new word the other morning, as each step we took fractured the ice-covered snow into sharp, ankle-biting shards: Snice. Here's a representative specimen:


And here's a snice example of ad hoc automotive sharkification:


As a matter of fact, I do have cabin fever, and apparently some of my neighbors do, too. On the other hand, our old kitty, Abbie, is losing ground, and it's nice to have an excuse to stay home, catering to his needs and providing almost-unlimited lap(top) service.

Still Not Used To It

I only have four years of personal data to go on, but I'm reasonably sure by now that it snows most winters in Portland -- just not very much or very often. The last part of that sentence probably accounts for the tizzy into which the entire city seems to be thrown every time flurries enter the realm of meteorological possibility. I keep reading about our "mild" Northwest winters, and I suppose they are, compared to, say, New England, the Midwest or Greenland. After all, here it is mid-December and some of my roses are still blooming. But I spent half my life in that sunny C-word state to the south, and snow spells "serious winter" to me.

It's also primo hot tub weather, even better than rain. We dunked ourselves a couple of hours ago, and I felt like I was in a ski resort in Aspen. Hot-tubbing is my favorite winter sport, I fear.

The snow started around 7:40 this morning. At 7:30: nothing. Suddenly, the air was filled with huge fluffy flakes. Hours later, it's still coming down, finer and with quite an east wind behind it.

Another couple days of this would be just fine in my universe, but by mid-week I'd like it gone, please, so I and the other weather wimps in town can get on with our lives. And to think that winter is officially still a week away...

Perhaps the novelty is wearing off a bit

It snowed again today, about six inches. The streets were hushed and still this morning til we got to Berkeley Park, which turned out to be Sledding Central. It felt like the whole neighborhood was out there, sliding down the hills on and in a variety of conveyances, including plastic recycling bins, dishpans, and cookie sheets.

When we got home, I called the theater and rescheduled our tickets for tonight (one of the perqs of a season subscription). Just found out the performance has been cancelled anyway, which makes me feel considerably less of a wuss about not wanting to drive.

We shot the equivalent of an entire roll of film in the space of a half-hour walk. I've added 20 or so pix to my Winter set on flickr. So much for "we hardly ever get any snow in Portland."

Okay, so it's still a novelty

Snow in Portland II
Originally uploaded by revalani at flickr

We woke up this morning to huge, puffy snowflakes. They tapered off as I watched from bed; by the time I got up, they'd stopped. But the world -- our immediate neighborhood, anyway -- was transformed.

Blogger isn't letting me upload photos tonight, so I've linked one of the three I put up at flickr.