No-snow Day

Last night, I went walking in a winter wonderland. Which is unusual for Seattle. Though it seems to be less and less so. 2 years ago, there were multiple snowstorms here. Last year saw snow as well. And last night was the 2nd night of snow this winter. In the 5 years that I previously lived in Seattle, I never saw snow stick on the city streets. Never. I did see a few flurries, mostly when I was north of the city somewhere. And let me tell you, people here go crazy in the snow. Literally bat-shit crazy. Alex likes to tell the story of the time he was driving to work (he used to work at the Royal Casino in Everett, about 20 miles north of Seattle), and there were flurries that began to stick a bit on Interstate 5. He had to be extra careful as he drove to avoid the cars driving backwards on the road. Backwards. For real!! It's like the people saw the snow sticking and lost their ability to think straight, all they could think was, "I must get off this death-trap of a road immediately and I just passed an exit off of the highway and so I'm gonna put this car in reverse and make my way back to it HELP ME JESUS!" I never witnessed the backwards driving, but I saw plenty of cars on the side of the road with hazards flashing and looks of panic on the faces of those in the drivers' seats. This place simply doesn't do snow. Which is kinda bizarre, considering how close Seattle is to the mountains and ski resorts. Drive 30 minutes east and you need snow chains! But the fact remains: the city of Seattle and its inhabitants do not do snow. There are no plows, no salt trucks. The city is built on a big hill, and the roads get quite slick. Even a chance of snow will cause people to cancel their plans. (Years ago, when I was singing with Seattle Women in Blues, we had a Saturday night show in Pioneer Square get canceled due to "a chance of snow". They closed the bar at 4pm. Our 3-hour gig was supposed to begin at 9pm. By 2am, not a single flake of snow had fallen. Needless to say, I had some unpleasant things to say about this city full of "snow dummies".)

And so, I was pleased last night that my 6pm class (I'm teacher-in-training in an intro acting class--and I'm SO EXCITED!!) did not get canceled due to "a chance of snow". And even at 7:30, when the snow began to fall, we kept on working. By 8:45, when the snow was sitting an inch deep on car-tops and covering the city streets, we decided it was best to end class an hour early to let people make their way home through the winter madness. Fortunately for me, the class is only a 10-minute walk from my apartment (fortunate, as there is no way the Sexy Beast Camaro was gonna be moving up any hills, since all that horsepower does nothing but cause a massive fish-tail on slick surfaces), and I do love to walk in falling snow (unless we're talking blizzard-like conditions, with biting winds sending razor-edged snowflakes to attack my sweet cheeks). It was beautiful. Very few cars on the road, and most of the bars had smokers standing outside smiling at the weather. (I heard one guy say, "Dude, this snow makes me feel stoned." Oh, you funny Seattle-ites.) By the time I got to my building, I was covered in big, wet flakes. Alex and I sat by the windows, by the roar of our fake fire, and stared out at the whiteness. Much of the city was lost behind the snow, and the streets below were a pattern of tire tracks and footprints. It was beautiful.

By 6am, it was a slushy mess. It is now a grey, rainy day, and the only traces of snow are dripping off of rooftops. The construction crew is working down below, though most of their machinery is sitting silent in slushy mud. There's some hammering going on, platform building, but most of the crew is sitting inside their trucks drinking hot beverages, waiting for...I don't know what. It's a mess out there. Nothing winter-wonderland about it. A good day to stay tucked indoors next to a fake fire. I do plan on heading out later, because Alex has the day off (he actually has 2 days off, his first 2 days off since sometime last spring and I'm so very excited!!) and he is desperate to get away from his computers and out of the apartment. I think we can make it to a movie theatre. Maybe see a double-feature. As long as I'm with Alex, I'll be happy to stomp through the slush to go wherever he might like to go. Though, it would have been so much better to take a walk through the snow.