It rarely snows in Seattle - well, not right in the city. Maybe once or twice a winter we'll get a dusting of snow, sometimes a few inches, and then the city shuts down. Completely. Since I grew up in suburban Chicago, I thought this was silly - but since it doesn't snow very often, people just aren't used to city driving in snow and ice. Plus, it's a very hilly city, so it's almost impossible to get around, and the buses usually can't make it on the steep hills. When I worked downtown, I would have to walk the three miles to work (up a steep hill and then down some very steep hills) anytime it snowed even 2 inches. THAT was always fun ...
So we had a winter storm come through yesterday. We only got about a half-inch where I live, but some areas up north got up to 18 inches. The schools are all closed, a lot of bus routes aren't running (basically the only public transportation we have), a lot of people have taken the day off of work. It started here with a big hailstorm just before 5:00 - perfect timing to really screw up rush hour. Scott works in a suburb north of the city, which usually takes him 30 minutes - maybe 45 minutes if traffic's bad. It took him three and a half hours to get home last night. There were cars in ditches, people abandoning their cars on the side of the road, people pulling into parking lots and sleeping in their cars because traffic just wasn't moving. Today it's only about 25 degrees, so everything is frozen and icy. It took Scott an hour and a half to get back to work this morning. I'm glad I'm at home ...
Here are a few pictures I took:
From the front porch, waiting for Scott to get home ...
From the living room window this morning ...
Our back yard from the balcony ...
Kali getting her first taste of snow ...
I know, I know ... it doesn't look like much, but trust me - solid ice and hilly streets (and not a whole lot in the way of snow removal equipment here), and it's nasty. So, taking Lewis' advice, I may start pulling some of the Christmas decorations up from the basement today. God knows that on Christmas it will probably be raining and 55 degrees ...
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