Portland has its occasional snow. This winter is a whole new experience. Growing up in Chicago, when the snowstorms came, so did the snow plows and salt. The city was prepared and jumped into action. Portland, on the other hand, doesn’t believe it will snow, and so it only has maybe a pickup truck and 2 bags of sand to take care of the city each winter. Or so it seems. And with average winter temperatures in the mid 40’s, any snow that falls is gone by the next day.
But, since Dec.19th, Portland has had three different snowstorms. The first one caused most of our Christmas parties to be canceled. Our second storm came around Jan. 4th, and the streets became accessible for under one day before the third storm hit last Tuesday afternoon. On the clear day between the second and third snowfalls, we finally bought chains and snow tires for the car, a good snow shovel and de-icer for the driveway.
Since we moved last year, and now live on a hill with a very steep driveway, our degree of difficulty just to leave the house, and then our neighborhood, has increased dramatically. At the base of our subdivision, someone has put up a sign reading “MORONS PARK HERE” or possibly, “MORONS, PARK HERE” (is it instructional or exclamatory–we’re not sure) pointing out exactly where any out of control car would naturally end up. Many abandoned cars can still be found there today.
Snow. It’s beautiful to watch it fall, but this sense of being trapped on our hill for a week at a time is taking some adjustment. But on the flip side, as a self-employed artist who works from home, as long as we have power (it did go out once for 2 hours), I’m at the office. I got a lot done this past week!
I do remember what a big storm looks like. My last year in Chicago before college, we had 4 feet of snow fall in under a day. It’s really all about being prepared and having the right tools for the task at hand. Just like life itself. Finally finished shoveling us out of our driveway, put on the chains and hit the road today. Nice adventure, treats and rewards. Freedom!
Best wishes for a happy and positive new year to everybody in 2017! Cheers!
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