It has been quite a week in Seattle. Last Saturday night we had the first snowfall which was exciting, because it doesn't happen very often here! It has stayed below freezing since last weekend, which is also unusual, so the snow has stuck.
On Wednesday we were supposed to have a big snowstorm coming through. There was a lot of TV weather man hype. All of the schools in Seattle canceled, but then it turned out that it didn't snow at all until early Thursday morning. When it did start snowing, there was thunder and lightning! By the time I left for work the snow was accumulating. We ended up with a couple of inches that day. I made it to and from work in my car that day, and then went back to Ballard again in the evening to see a movie with Abbe. Wild adventurousness, risking my life to see a movie! ;) Turns out, the movie was lame, but oh well. (Do not see Four Christmases. It's just plain unfortunate. None of the characters are likable.)
It has stayed unseasonably cold for Seattle, so all of this snow is still on the ground and on most streets, and because we rarely have much snow, the city is VERY ill-equipped to handle even a little bit of snow. I had a real adventure getting home from work on Friday, between walking and taking the bus. Only half the buses were running, and those that were had very unpredictable re-routes and schedules. I had to wait for my bus downtown for almost 2 hours. Talk about numb fingers and toes! It was ridiculous. Three hours after leaving work, I walked into my apartment.
Yesterday afternoon more snow started falling. This one had even bigger hype than the one on Thursday. As of this morning we have gotten about 6" of snow in Seattle, but it hasn't been particularly "stormy" as they expected. Other outlying areas, like the Cascade foothills had blizzard conditions.
The snow is beautiful to look at, but it's kind of getting in the way of my life! I had plans to go out for dinner with friends and to the symphony for Handel's Messiah last night. Originally the performance was going to go on despite the weather. My friend Joy was going to come from Tacoma for the evening, and decided not to come because she didn't want to get stranded in Seattle because she had to get home to her daughter so her husband could go to work in the morning. I was not sure whether I should still go alone anyway, but I wasn't sure how bad the roads might be. I decided it was probably best not to venture out on my own. I probably would have been more risky/adventurous if someone else was with me. But I was really upset that I paid $40 for a ticket and it would just be a loss. Not to mention, I was disappointed that my fun evening plans with friends that I had been looking forward to were ruined! Well, the good news is that they did end up canceling the performance after all, so it looks like I will get a refund at least, and I didn't miss out on anything by staying home.
It is really frustrating to live in Seattle at times like this. I know snow is a rare occurrence, and it would be really expensive to have a lot of snow equipment that wouldn't get much use. However, even an inch or two of snow absolutely paralyzes this city. In Saskatchewan or Minnesota, for example, this would be nothing, and life would carry on as usual - streets would be cleared, sanded, and/or salted. Here in Seattle, the snow stays on the street, and it gets icy, and since there are so many hills, many streets are not drivable. I am just glad I am not flying out of Seattle until next week. Lots of people are stranded here and in Portland because of canceled flights.
So it is definitely a quiet winter wonderland in the city today. I am pondering what to do with my day. I have more Christmas cards to write. I have the TV news on right now, watching the news weather tracker van driving around Seattle telling us how bad the roads are. Ha! I might walk in my neighborhood and see if any little shops are open where I can do some last minute Christmas shopping too.
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