11__Winter Wonderland

When the snow fell and fell each day during the last weeks of December, it turned out to be among most challenging conditions this area has ever seen. With terms like snowpocalypse and snowmageddon being tossed around, this was clearly a landmark event in a place whose winter lows hover around 40 degrees. When that figure dropped (and stayed in) the 20s - the snow continued to fall and refused to melt. Take a look at our front yard on day 1.



This paralyzed the city's public transit, 75% of the bus lines were either cloed or re-routed. With snow plows nowhere to be seen (rumor says the city owns only 4) the neighborhood roads were piled high, and even the major thoroughfares were only partially cleared by the tracks of stubborn cars & trucks who could manage to move. Hills were littered with cars stuck in the snow. For many this came as a call to skip all remaining days of work before the holiday. Christmas vacations started for the kids in school a week early (with an early bonus day due to faulty forecasting for what Seattlest called "a much deserved cloud day"). But when the snow arrived it sure did make life hell.



Here's an image of the streets courtesy of Seattlest's flickr site.

What's funny about the whole mess is that the city had a strict no-salt policy in efforts to protect the environment (over the safety of the people in that environment). There is a clear rank of priorities in this town, and nature is bigger than you. If we had this mentality all the time, the world would clearly be a better place, but for those from anywhere else in the country - used to certain responses which keep the pace moving despite the snow - this was the opposite. Elsewhere we joke about panic-induced drivers, here life really does come to a halt. You are limited to however far you are willing to walk. And walk, walk, walk we did.



Day 5 of the snow. One of the busiest roads in the neighborhood (still empty) with the Sound in the background, just before sunset.


Regardless of the conditions, I still had to get to work. Snow days for others meant some of our busiest at the bakery. So with shifts starting at 6:15, my days began around 4. Nearly four hours before the sunrise, I began the walk to work. I didn't have to walk the whole 3 miles, just about halfway - where there was a reliable bus line that could take me the rest of the way to Columbia City. The first day, this was awful. I hadn't yet accepted that this was just how it had to be, and was mostly still bitter that my car was stuck & the buses weren't running. The next time and subsequently the rest of the week, these walks became some of the most pleasant walks I've ever taken. They provided an hour a day of solitude and reflection (no one is walking around in the snow at 5 am). Seattle looked like a snowy winter wonderland, with it's rolling hills and covered rooftops, christmas lights abundant. Check out my favorite house:



So despite the hassles that seemed overwhelming at first, I couldn't have appreciated those mornings more. The final walk in the snow came the evening of Christmas Eve as I headed to catch the bus to the airport. As I was only hours away from seeing family, I knew to soak in the moments that were a white christmas in Seattle. This headache was a once in a lifetime moment for this city, where there was a real sense of disconnect from the greater city structure. By public safety standards the atrocious response to the snow would be considered a minor disaster. Not to me though, these days proved that for once your neighborhood was your boundary - you walked 10 blocks to get a handful of groceries, went sledding down the closed-off street, and basked in a calmer way of life.