When we first moved to the Puget Sound region thirty years ago, local legend had it that the weather was generally mild -- never terribly hot in the summer or cold in the winter -- and that the city of Seattle didn’t even have a snowplow, not a single one. I doubt that was true, but it made for a good real estate come-on as this became one of the fastest-growing parts of the country.
I’m not some kind of zealot working for the Truth Police, but I have to report that most of Western Washington has been chilly and snow-covered the past few days. While statistics say temperatures should be in the 40’s and Seattle commuters should be carrying umbrellas to keep themselves and their lattes dry as they make their way to the office in the winter rain, the reality is that it’s been below freezing. TV news tells me -- as I watch from a safe distance, outside the city -- that lots of folks are staying home from work because the roadways are nearly impassable, coated first in ice, then snow.
The power goes out with little provocation in the rural area where I live, but it’s soldiered on this week. I’ve been able to work at my computer in my office at home, editing my wedding clients’ pictures. Yesterday afternoon I put on cross country skis and toured the snowy landscape around my house, looking for personal pictures. There was a bicycle (it serves as a flower planter in the summer) that looked visually interesting (in a snowbound, not-going-anywhere kind of way); and a very frozen birdbath. Later, as I warmed-up indoors, I photographed the gentle pattern and sweep of curtains, in contrast with the graphically bold railing of our deck.
Much heavier snow is forecast for the weekend. This is exciting stuff here in an area where snow is supposed to be on the mountains, way-off out there in the distance, not down here where we live.
