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This Mornin'


Woke up this mornin'
Looked round for my shoes
Lord, I knew I had,
Them ol' walkin' blues...

Last night I was joking with a guy at a gas station about the snow storm we were supposed to be getting today. People had been scrambling around all afternoon at local grocery stores trying to stock up on items that might be necessary in case they couldn't drive for a few days. Between the fearful and the holiday shoppers, the lines were long and the patience short. Since the gas prices are headed back up this week, I decided to fill the tank just in case the snow did come.
We joked about how Portland prepares days in advance for the chance of snow, but secretly are glad the city is on it so well... in advance. The buses are chained, the plows poised, and the deicer ready to roll.
At 8:00 a.m. I looked out my front window and through the lingering darkness saw only black pavement and little evidence of moisture. By 8:30 the flurries came, and by 9:30 walking to my local Peet's coffee shop it was blowing snow and biting wind.
It's nearly 11 a.m. now and I feel like I'm sitting in an Arctic outpost. The chimney howls, the snow swirls off rooftops like waves of frosty grain, and I'm just waiting for a break to shovel the front walkway.
Here in Portland we don't get too much snow, but when we do it consumes the moment. There is just enough awe (so many ex-Californians like me) and just enough respect for Mother Nature, (mostly native Oregonians) that everybody has a good time in the end. Add in the spice of the Holiday season, a warm beverage, and school and road closures, and we're good to go.
Merry Christmas Baby,
You sure look good to me...

Comments

ossiwessiami said…
Yeah, wasn't it nice, all this powdery snow, the quiet, people dominated the streets instead of cars, skiing folks, sledding kids in Irving parks, all this despite the icy wind in the beginning of the "Arctic Blast".
Dogs seemed to enjoy the snow a lot, like our neighbors dog Maxi and a lot of other pooches did, too. I am glad it wasn't only bitching and moaning like in the paper and on TV, where they couldn't say one good word about all this rare snow in Portland. I loved it, it was like my childhood Winters in Eisenach. We always had lots of snow and it was mostly powder and then sunshine. That was the only thing missing.
Gisela
January 1, 2009 at 8:34 AM
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