Bye, February

 If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.

February was one of the coldest on record in Seattle, with an average temperature of about 36 degrees.  At least March is starting out sunny, but much colder than normal.  We won't even get close to 50 for at least another week. 

Well, it's a light news morning.  I'm going to the Home Show at Century Link Field with Terri and George this afternoon to look at fancy kitchens, decks and hot tubs.

A Winter's Tale

Cold Ladies

by Alphonse Mucha

Yet another frigid morning.  Fortunately the snow stayed far to the south in Oregon.  Did you heard about the folks trapped on the Los Angeles bound train for almost 2 days?  After all that, they brought them back to Seattle again which must have been quite a let down, not to mention spoiled vacation plans. 

February (rightly so) isn't a popular month for weddings, but nevertheless, today happens to be our anniversary. 

Here we are 26 years ago with brown hair, brown beards and a teenage Amanda.  How we miss the dear ones in that picture who are no longer with us.

Usually I plan a special meal but I'm not cooking tonight.  John is taking us out to dinner at Jak's Grill, our local steakhouse. I think what he's really hankering for is a giant baked potato, all his own.  At home, he has to split one with me. A long happy marriage is about sharing and compromise.
Ha Ha. 

Fairy Tale Day

Albert Einstein is supposed to have said, "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales."

There are no grey areas in a fairy tale.  Good and evil are split completely, usually with a satisfying (or bittersweet) happily ever after ending. 

Books were a luxury in the house when we were growing up, but we had this set of old Anderson's and Grimm's fairy tales. They eventually fell to pieces, but years ago I found the same editions at a used book store and bought them out of nostalgia.

From the 1945 edition of Andersen's Fairly Tales, illustrated by the creepy artist Arthur Szyk, back in the Dark Ages when pictures could engross kids for hours.

Before Dave and I could read, our sister Marji would dramatically read the stories aloud until we knew them by heart. Each one had a grim lesson about what happens to selfish, bad people and vain disobedient children. 

Pride was the greatest sin of all. A little girl who dares to dance into church in her new red shoes eventually gets her feet chopped off.  And was grateful for it.  That sort of cheery thing...and don't even ask what happened to "The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf" to avoid soiling her shoes.

Could I bring myself to read stories like that to Nova and Maya? Perhaps we shelter kids too much these days.

The Grimm brothers wrote many amoral stories, "Hansel and Gretel" for example. Some of these stories were believed to be jabs at the government or royalty at the time. But always, fairy tales are about the fight between good and evil, love and loss, and whatever you want to say about fairy tales, these lessons rub off. 

Quiet weekend

I made a 10 pound lasagna on Sunday afternoon. I forget how much heavy food goes into one of those things, but it was good.  Brownies with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce for dessert. Hey, it's winter. Our old friends Terri and George came over for dinner. They just got back from spending a month in Arizona, and were extolling the pleasures of the snow bird lifestyle. They made it sound pretty appealing.

The long term forecast for the Northwest: cold into the middle of March.  Of course "cold" is all relative. It's been quite the winter for vicious storms, hasn't it?  The Weather Channel started naming winter storms in 2012. Supposedly only storms that are "disruptive to people" are worthy of having names.

Except for a few dirty piles, the snow is gone and life is back to normal routines.  The Ukes meet again today after nearly a month off. I'm sure we'll sound pretty rusty.  They play pinochle at the senior center in the next room, and one of the card players usually makes a point of closing the doors to block the noise. No feelings hurt.

February is wrapping up fast, good riddance.  The March calendar is packed with things to look forward to-- the Symphony, a musical show at the 5th Avenue Theater, and hopefully a weekend trip to Twisp.

Sunshine arrives

When the sun finally came out yesterday, it was shockingly bright.  We've been buried under clouds so long, easy to forget it's almost March.

I went for a bundled up walk in the afternoon-- we're absolutely locked in this cold weather pattern with snow still a possibility.  You heard about the freak snow in Las Vegas?  My sister has lived there for decades and never seen anything like it. The weather is bonkers all across the west.

The hungry travelers ate a big breakfast yesterday morning and were soon on their way home. But I enjoyed hearing stories of another of their memorable adventure trips.

With rental cars they could explore the Yucatan off the beaten track, and had a wonderful time. One of the big thrills was swimming in a "cenote" cave.

I shared my excitement this week (crocheting washcloths) and Nova and Maya thought they were perfect, bless them.  So they each took one home.

Safe and sound

Maya, somewhere in the Yucatan

Amanda, Tom and the kids got to our house late last night; their flight home from Cancun was on time. I'll hear about the adventures when they get up later. Unfortunately, John had to go to work and will miss them today, as they are driving back to Twisp this morning.

What do I keep saying about some people's travel luck?  It just happens that today is the first completely dry, sunny day in over 2 weeks, so the mountain passes should be no problem.  However, this cold might come as a rude shock.  Anyway, back to reality after what sounds like a perfect tropical vacation.  

More pictures coming soon...

Indoor hobbies

In February I'm usually busy puttering around outside, but not this year. So back to the winter indoor hobbies, like bird watching.  It was interesting how the birds all disappeared during the snow, except for jays coming for suet.  Now the juncos, white-crowned sparrows, finches and chickadees are suddenly here, even a flock of robins yesterday, a happy sight, considering this un-spring-like weather.  They must find worms in the yard, ditto the moles, who had a grand old time digging fresh mounds under the snow. 

We didn't get any new snow from this latest system, just cold, miserable rain and temperatures at least 10 degrees below normal.  Forty degrees might not sound cold to you, but it's real rheumatism weather here, and distinctly unpleasant outside when it's so damp and grey.  We'll be in this dreary weather pattern for at least another week.

I always have cooking and housework to keep me busy, blah blah blah, although that gets boring. And I've been too restless for the things I should be practicing, like my ukulele.  The Ukes haven't met for nearly a month and I lack motivation. Plus, playing alone isn't that much fun.

I pulled out some old crochet projects, like this giant practice granny square I've been working on forever. You can just keep going round and round obsessively on a granny square, and it will eventually become a rather garish square blanket.

I was wandering around Joanne's Craft Store this week, which gave me the urge to crochet something more useful.  I bought another beginner crochet book for inspiration to add to my stack at home. The first project in the book was a cotton washcloth.  Single crochet, what could be easier, a child could do it.

Then working in the stripes correctly gave me fits, and I blamed the poor instructions, of course, instead of my ability to decipher the poor instructions. I finally got it sorted out and need more plain cotton yarn.  They don't sell anything that ordinary at our local fancy kitting store.

I like Hobby Lobby better than Joanne's, because I never have their coupons and feel ripped off.  I didn't even know we had a Hobby Lobby in Seattle until my friend Nancy told me about it. It's way up on Aurora Avenue, but I can zip there easily via our fancy new tunnel, still toll free.

True grit

Next time you feel impatient on a long flight...

Full Day

The pilot on the plane says:
In one minute and fifty seconds
we're going as far
as the covered wagon went
in a full day.
We look down
on clouds,
mountains of froth and foam.
We eat a neat
and subdivided lunch.
How was it for the people in
the covered wagon?
They bumped and jostled.
Their wheels broke.
Their biscuits were tough.
They got hot and cold and old.
Their shirts tore on the branches
they passed.
But they saw the pebbles
and the long grass
and the sweet shine of evening
settling on the fields.
They knew the ruts and the rocks.
They threw their furniture out
to make the wagons lighter.
They carried their treasures
in a crooked box.

Naomi Shihab Nye

Monday, monday

Another cold week ahead. We're in denial about it, but there's a possibility of lowland snow on Tuesday. This time, however, it won't stick around, or so they say.

Yea. The yard and sidewalks are finally almost melted off. Snow is so pretty when it falls, and so dismal in the city when it turns to dirty slush. 

The sun came out briefly late yesterday afternoon and it was bright and strong, a reminder that spring is just around the corner.  Other than the general messiness snow leaves behind, the garden is none the worse for wear.  The hyacinths and tulips, in fact, look downright happy. They like a good chilly drenching.

Amanda and family get back from the Yucatan on Thursday night, having missed the weather event of the century. How lucky is that?

"The Eternal Struggle"

Angela Jayne Barnett

Cold

Congratulations, Seattle.  So far, this has been the coldest, snowiest February on record.

Snoqualmie Pass just set a new record for the snowiest day ever.  31 inches of snow fell on February 12th, and over a three day period this week, the pass got a total of 68 inches.  That's too much of a good thing even in the mountains, and the Pass was closed due to avalanche danger for 2 days.

The weather in central Washington is just as bad. How lucky Amanda and Tom are to miss this "unprecedented" weather, a word becoming wearisome in all context.

The snow is slowly melting in Seattle, emphasis on slow, as the daily highs barely make it to 40 degrees.  It is still tricky getting around. There is an art and science to snowplowing, and they don't get much practice here. The bulldozers only made the situation worse, pushing the snow up against cars and covering storm drains. So many people have to park in front of their houses, and the curbs are still blocked with piles of ice, trapping you in or out.

On the bright side, I've getting out of the house again, and things are returning to normal.  The mail was delivered and the garbage picked up. I've been to the gym, Safeway, and might go to the mall this afternoon for some retail therapy.  My drawing class was cancelled last Saturday, but on again for tomorrow with a make-up session for the one we missed.

We had a nice quiet Valentine's Day at home.  John knows the way to my heart, and brought me roses and chocolates which brightened the day.  I know the way to his, and made coconut cake and roasted beef ribs for dinner.  We watched a Cleveland Symphony concert and I fell asleep as usual in front of the  TV. And so it goes, after almost 26 years of marriage.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, dear friends and family. How about a little break from weather complaints and endless snow pictures?

Amanda, Tom and the girls are vacationing in the Yucatan for 10 days with their friends Gina, Michael, and their kids Adelina and Finbar. 

They are driving rental cars, staying in eco-lodges, exploring Mayan ruins and colonial towns.  Everyone is well and having a good time. Nice to see a world without slush, grey skies and cold rain.

Amanda sent me these pictures yesterday.

The aftermath

Winter has finally loosened its icy grip, as they say, and Seattle is melting faster than the Wicked Witch of the East. Yesterday morning at this time, we were still well and truly snowed in.

About 5 am, there was an enormous racket going on outside.  What next, thought I?  Well, The City of Seattle owns a grand total of 3 snowplows, and they apparently outsourced snow removal to private contractors.  Gee, imagine the taxpayer bill on that?

Anyway, a construction worker was scraping the street up and down in a random way with his giant road grader. Snow removal clearly not his day job.  He shoved massive piles of snow in front of the alley entrances, so the folks who park behind their houses couldn't get out. And for those lucky ones who must park on the street, a giant berm of ice, so our cars could neither come or go.  He also covered up the storm drains.  Thank you very much, Mayor Jenny Durkin.

OK, I thought.  Don't panic. It's Seattle. It will eventually melt, and someday you will actually get to leave your home again.

And melt it did. Before long, I noticed a deep lake forming under my car from blocked drainage. So I grabbed my trusty little toy snow shovel (now broken) and soon opened the snow dam.

Before long I had a satisfying slush channel draining the street.  Really, they should give me a civic award, instead of paying worthless contractors $1000 an hour.

I hadn't had so much fun since I was building creek dams with Marji and Dave.  The satisfying thing about water is it always does what it's supposed to do: run downhill into Puget Sound.

When John got home from work, he shoveled out a chunk of the ice barrier so he could park his car again. 

Later I took a walk around the sloppy yard to assess the damage.  Snow so deep and heavy it toppled a concrete bird bath.

Who says palm trees are delicate?  Ours looks none the worse for wear.

But an unhappy looking olive tree. Time will tell.

And one obvious casualty. My pretty old fashioned blooming verbena crushed by the snow.

In Memoriam 

But beneath it all, we are still a vibrant Seattle green.
Life goes on.

The great melt

The West Seattle Junction

California Avenue

OK, we surrender. We endured a fourth snow storm yesterday afternoon that brought gobs of heavy wet stuff, with a nasty transition to freezing rain. By the end, the snow was up to my knees in the back yard.

Carports and flat roofs around town collapsed under the weight, the evening commute was a nightmare (thank goodness John left work early) and now the real danger of urban flooding begins from blocked storm drains.  Not to mention, widespread power outages from fallen tree limbs.  Both Stevens and Snoqualmie Pass are closed this morning.  Over 500 delays and cancellations at SeaTac yesterday.

It is finally starting to rain, but after another 8 or so inches last night, many people are still completely snowed in.

Ho hum, says the rest of the country; silly Seattle got some snow. And our reaction to snow probably does seem kind of cute-- from a distance. But it gives a person pause to consider, what would happen if we had a real disaster here?

Examples of life in Seattle lately:

Yesterday was the third Monday in a row without trash or recycle pick up. Trash is piling up everywhere, especially around the big apartment buildings.

It's a drag hauling our full cans back into the yard from missed pickups, but if we leave them in the alley, thoughtless people walking by throw garbage in our clean recycle bin.

We haven't had mail delivery since last week. Thursday?

People have missed work, important appointments and all their enjoyable activities, like ukulele groups, ballets, flights, regular exercise and seeing friends.  Parents are at their wit's end, and the kids will be in school until July to make up snow days.

The hills in the neighborhood are littered with beer cans, trash and plastic from late night sledding parties.

The social norms we take for granted have started to fall by the wayside.  No one picks up after their dogs in the snow, of course.  And because there's no traffic, some people let them run loose on the streets and they dash into yards.  Yesterday when I opened the front door, there were 3 large dogs on our porch, one looked like a pit bull.

Someone rides an obnoxious dirt bike in circles in front of our house.

And so on...yes, I'm cranky from being cooped up. I'm grateful I don't have to go to work, but I still miss the camaraderie and friendship of coworkers. Email and texting does not count as social interaction.

Anyway, better see if I can find another closet to clean out. My car is still buried under snow.

End in sight?

We had a couple more inches of snow last night, and the next round hits this afternoon.  A wet warm front is moving up from the south and will start out as snow, then eventually transition over to rain.

"When" is the big question, but by Tuesday afternoon, Seattle might be a big slushy mess. A different sort of misery on the way. It's a balmy 30 degrees this morning, and it looks like the highs will finally be above freezing this week.

The plum tree was teeming with birds a couple weeks ago, and now all my little creatures have deserted the yard. It's so quiet. The Scrub Jays still come for suet, but the sunflower seed feeder is full.

And where are the squirrels? Will there be a bunch of carcasses under there when the snow finally melts? John says ha ha, they're so fat from eating expensive bird seed, they can sleep through the whole thing.

Eventually...spring must win out.

Digging out

We had a welcome respite this morning as the wind died down and the skies cleared out for a few hours. It was very beautiful but very cold.  

It's clouding up again now, and we're supposed to get more snow tonight, and even more of a dump on Monday night into Tuesday.  Snow is hard to predict, but it could be and additional 8 inches in Seattle.  

For once I'm at a loss for words to describe how weird this is, especially in February.  The temperature will barely go above freezing for the next 10 days. 

We were relieved the kids arrived safely yesterday afternoon, just in time for a chili dinner and a few quick cuddles. They were off again for the airport at 4 am and their luck miraculously held out. Within this little window of calm weather, their flight left for Cancun on time.  They will be gone for 10 days, traveling with their friends and exploring the Yucatan Peninsula.

Life is not so glamorous for us next week.  I'll be stuck at home, mostly. This morning John dug out "Little Beep" and drove me to Safeway. We stocked up on ice cream and vegetables.  I'm making a small turkey dinner tonight, and then soup with the leftovers. 

The main roads are mostly OK, but getting there is the problem. The side streets all over Seattle look like this.  And of course, our notorious hills make driving even more interesting.

Most people don't own snow shovels, or they they do, not inclined to use them, like in other parts of the country, where you get outside and get to work. The snow usually turns to rain here and just disappears after a few hours.  Not this time-- and the sidewalks are a sheet of packed ice.  The "German" in me finds this upsetting, almost slovenly! At least I shoveled off our entryways, but it will be a long time until the sidewalks melt off.
 

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