Falling behind in many things
Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2008 by Travis Cody inHey gang!
The last couple of days of weather have been a pain in the backside. The snowstorm kept me home on Thursday and Friday. The roads were just too slick. The white stuff is gorgeous to look at...
...but I had no intention of slipping on these steps and spending the holidays in traction. And even if I made it up the steps, or hiked around them, there would have been icy roads to slide around on. The Puget Sound is all about hills, which are lovely but not build for snow!
The road I take once I get off the freeway was closed today due to ice. It's a hilly road. And then there was this little goody just a block north of the freeway onramp I take to get home.
Photo credit KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The bus drivers tried to find an alternate route when they saw that the road they wanted to use was closed. And they ended up sliding on the ice and nearly went over the side and down to the freeway 30 feet below.
Photo credit ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Now I know some of you live in climates that get "real" winter snowstorms. But the thing to know about the Puget Sound is that this is unusual weather. We get this stuff maybe 2-5 days a year. The snow is slushy, and a serious cold front always moves in behind it so everything wet freezes for days.
And remember what I said about the hills? We just don't have the infrastructure to deal with it. And the area is full of people like me who don't have the skills to drive safely in icy conditions.
Can you really drive safely down a steep hill that has a 2" thick sheet of ice on it?
So we close schools and we stay off the roads if we can. Because to us, this is a pretty "real" winter snowstorm.
Anyway, all I really meant to say today was that I've fallen behind in my blog rounds. I'll catch up this weekend.
Happy Holidays and Joyous Yule to you!
It's beautiful but so dangerous especially when you're not used to it. We had snow last week in Louisiana for the first time in 20 years. Check out my blog and see.
Stay in and stay safe, Travis!