Friday, January 20, 2012

Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse

Oh, Seattle. We are accustomed to a great deal of precipitation...but not to frozen precipitation. I will not share the many hilarious comedy sketches that mock our problems with driving in snow, but you can easily find plenty to laugh at on facebook and YouTube. Suffice it to say that it is not our forte here. We have so many hills, and our snow is so wet and heavy, that it's more like skating than driving, and for some of us, it's better to simply stay at home.

Our news media, apparently having very little else to report, has been running around-the-clock weather and traffic updates. They really get into it, calling a coming storm system by such dramatic names that we locals have started to make jokes about "Snowmageddon" and "Snowpocalypse."

Because we had a little warning about the snow, I bought a lot of food in case we got stuck at home. We always have a fire laid in our woodstove, as well as flashlights and a lot of candles around the house. The power often goes out in winter time here, due to trees and limbs falling on power lines, so we like to be prepared.

When it finally arrived, we got a total of about 4 inches of snow at our house, and we're at sea level. Some people had over a foot.
Gregg was ready with his new hat from R.E.I.
Gregg had his computer and mobile phone at home with him when the snow began to fall, so he has simply worked from here. It was a nice change for a man who has a three-hour round-trip commute every day. I work from home, so we shared the space and took walks in the snow when we needed a break. There was no way that we could have driven a car up our steep, long driveway, and even if we could, the roads were not plowed, salted nor sanded. In fact, our friends reported seeing a (rare) snowplow by their house, and it was stuck in a ditch. So much for help out in the countryside! The snow was beautiful, even though it really did bring everything that wasn't an emergency to a halt.
The view from our bedroom
A side street in our neighborhood
A beloved neighbor's yard art
The cats wanted to go outside, but shortly after they went out, they wanted to come back in. I regret to say that Latte caught (and killed) a bird while he was outside. He came up on the deck with the poor thing clenched firmly in his jaws. ICK!

Liger preferred to be indoors, but he did get a bit stir-crazy. He resumed his old pastime of finding Playmobil and Lego pieces and playing soccer with them all over the house. It sounded like a stampede, but it was harmless and quite funny.
Caught with a Playmobil cup
It is now raining steadily, and the roads are deep with slush and running water. It will be a pleasure to go out in the car tomorrow, but it's been fun to be "snowed in" with Gregg for a few days!

5 comments:

Mary Potts said...

We have quite a bit of the white stuff here in Chicago too. It's beautiful, and Keenan sure loves it.
Stay warm. LOVE the view from your bedroom. WOW!
I'm working on rectifying my unfortunate "Spain" incident. ugh

Unknown said...

Well. I'm just in awe of that bedroom view !

We've had a rather unusual winter so far, more rain than snow. All good .

Glad you enjoyed your cozy !

Busy Bee Suz said...

The media sure knows how to get people riled up...and the names!! So funny.
I'm glad that you were both able to stay home safely....and content too!
The cats are so funny. Well, not funny to the birds!
Stay warm.
xo

A.Smith said...

Believe it or not I envy you. I was all set for the eight inches they promised and nothing. Some scattered heavy, wet something or another that wasn't rain fell from the skies but never got to be "snow". I love the boyfriend's new hat. And I wish you and I could have taken a long walk in the cold air, and by the way, I meant to tell you before how I love the gentle masseuse's art. It reflects her, doesn't it?

Elizabeth said...

Well, you make me, a snow-hater -- sort of love it! :)