The view out my window is a study in black and white, with the neighbors little red barn the exception. We were supposed to get six to thirteen inches of snow. People battened down the hatches. They called it Snowmageddon on the news. It's hard to find milk and bread at the grocery stores. Overnight, we got almost an inch of snow. Since then, we've had five inches more. Ha! I just love watching the weather people around here. There's so much drama.
I do like that both Mike and Nick are home today. It has felt like a mini-vacation with all of this expectation of snow and everyone at home. Yet, I can remember at least one snow day each year when the kids have been home all day without even a dusting of snow. Really? After living in this area for twenty-two years, you'd think I'd be used to this.
I moved here in late August of 1990. Within a month, I had a job with a good avionics company as a technical writer. That November, we had a snowfall of about eight inches. I put on my boots, threw a blanket into the truck and drove to work. I couldn't figure out why there were abandoned cars strewn about as if it was a war zone. When I got to work, the building was locked up and the security system was on. I could look through the window and see it blinking. I couldn't get in. Oh man, I thought I was I going to lose my job for not showing up at work. I couldn't remember my boss's phone number. I didn't want to leave. I'd gotten there ten minutes early just in case it took me extra time on the road. I waited at that door until the snow started melting down into to tops of my boots. I waited in my truck. There were no cell phones back then or at least I didn't have one. Do you remember those old cell phones that were the size of a brick? Rather than get hyperthermia, I scratched out a note on a scrap of paper I found in my purse and jammed it as far as I could into the crack of the door frame. I put down what time I'd come, what time I'd left, and the date. Then I drove home. After that, I got out my cross-country skiis and skated down the middle of the empdy road looking at all those abandoned cars. I almost skiied out to my new office. I was tempted. I still wasn't certain I would have a job in the morning. No one showed up to work for three days and they laughed at all the notes that I had left.
When Mike got home from work that first day, we both laughed as we watched the weather report. It was 27 degrees outside and they were calling it an arctic blast. These people have never seen an arctic blast. I remember complaining about the weather at my college being down below zero for a month. My friends who went to school in Minnesota laughed at me. They wore shorts and played ultimate frisbee when the temperatures got up to zero. Zero degrees Farenheit, that is.
I remember this one guy at my college who used to wear shorts every day, throughout that whole cold month. I finally gathered up my courage, approached him, and asked. He told me he was from Nome, Alaska and that this weather felt downright balmy to him. Okay, I was a lightweight. That was okay with me. Over the years, I learned that my body could learn to tolerate the cold and that good gear went a long way toward protecting me.
So now, I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for twenty-two years. I have never once seen a woman wearing one of those long puffy coats out here and yet I hear them complain about the frigid weather. My weather gear this season has been a fleece vest, a hoodie, and a rain jacket. I have a real winter coat, but I haven't needed it in a while. After all these years, it's still funny when the weather dips below freezing and the news people warn about an arctic snap and caution people not to go anywhere if they don't have to. I will concede that there are a number of steep hills around here that complicate driving. Plus, the roads are never slicker as when water on them is just hovering at freezing. I'll also admit that my skills at driving in snow have lapsed a bit. I'm out of practice.
Beyond that, I just don't understand the complaints about the weather. The snow is beautiful, great for packing into snowballs and building forts and snowmen. The puppy loves when we throw snowballs for him. The kids are enjoying the sledding hill/driveway. And I have my whole family with me here at home.
Thank you for listening, jb
I do like that both Mike and Nick are home today. It has felt like a mini-vacation with all of this expectation of snow and everyone at home. Yet, I can remember at least one snow day each year when the kids have been home all day without even a dusting of snow. Really? After living in this area for twenty-two years, you'd think I'd be used to this.
I moved here in late August of 1990. Within a month, I had a job with a good avionics company as a technical writer. That November, we had a snowfall of about eight inches. I put on my boots, threw a blanket into the truck and drove to work. I couldn't figure out why there were abandoned cars strewn about as if it was a war zone. When I got to work, the building was locked up and the security system was on. I could look through the window and see it blinking. I couldn't get in. Oh man, I thought I was I going to lose my job for not showing up at work. I couldn't remember my boss's phone number. I didn't want to leave. I'd gotten there ten minutes early just in case it took me extra time on the road. I waited at that door until the snow started melting down into to tops of my boots. I waited in my truck. There were no cell phones back then or at least I didn't have one. Do you remember those old cell phones that were the size of a brick? Rather than get hyperthermia, I scratched out a note on a scrap of paper I found in my purse and jammed it as far as I could into the crack of the door frame. I put down what time I'd come, what time I'd left, and the date. Then I drove home. After that, I got out my cross-country skiis and skated down the middle of the empdy road looking at all those abandoned cars. I almost skiied out to my new office. I was tempted. I still wasn't certain I would have a job in the morning. No one showed up to work for three days and they laughed at all the notes that I had left.
When Mike got home from work that first day, we both laughed as we watched the weather report. It was 27 degrees outside and they were calling it an arctic blast. These people have never seen an arctic blast. I remember complaining about the weather at my college being down below zero for a month. My friends who went to school in Minnesota laughed at me. They wore shorts and played ultimate frisbee when the temperatures got up to zero. Zero degrees Farenheit, that is.
I remember this one guy at my college who used to wear shorts every day, throughout that whole cold month. I finally gathered up my courage, approached him, and asked. He told me he was from Nome, Alaska and that this weather felt downright balmy to him. Okay, I was a lightweight. That was okay with me. Over the years, I learned that my body could learn to tolerate the cold and that good gear went a long way toward protecting me.
So now, I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for twenty-two years. I have never once seen a woman wearing one of those long puffy coats out here and yet I hear them complain about the frigid weather. My weather gear this season has been a fleece vest, a hoodie, and a rain jacket. I have a real winter coat, but I haven't needed it in a while. After all these years, it's still funny when the weather dips below freezing and the news people warn about an arctic snap and caution people not to go anywhere if they don't have to. I will concede that there are a number of steep hills around here that complicate driving. Plus, the roads are never slicker as when water on them is just hovering at freezing. I'll also admit that my skills at driving in snow have lapsed a bit. I'm out of practice.
Beyond that, I just don't understand the complaints about the weather. The snow is beautiful, great for packing into snowballs and building forts and snowmen. The puppy loves when we throw snowballs for him. The kids are enjoying the sledding hill/driveway. And I have my whole family with me here at home.
Thank you for listening, jb
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