Snow Day

In Seattle, when it snows, the city essentially shuts down. People abandon their cars in the street and hoof it out for the sake of getting to a warm building, preferably their own home. And this happens with ANY amount of accumulation, starting with a layer just thick enough to cover the ground in white. People from places that get large amounts of snow make fun of us. Just like when the weather is 90 in the summer, people from California mock us. I'm not a fan of either of those categories of people. There ARE reasons why the city shuts down in the snow, and really honest people who have experienced other lands of snowdrifts and blizzards will confirm this.

What is Seattle known for? I don't mean coffee, but the next thing that crosses everyone's mind. "It always rains," right? Well...it's always wet. The problem is that when it snows, it's not a dry snow like I've experienced once in my short life. It starts out melting into the pavement, and when it gets cold enough to stick, it FREEZES to the pavement. So as the snow falls, it creates a layer of snow AND ice on the ground. This is dangerous to attempt to drive in, especially if one is unprepared without snow tires or chains, especially if one is inexperienced with driving in icy conditions, and especially if there are lots of hills--a subtle peculiarity to Seattle. So, you take inexperienced, unprepared drivers trying to navigate icy hills and curvy side streets in a region that has about 2 main highways, and you're in for a traffic disaster. It is far safer to hide in your house!

Which brings us to tonight. It snowed all day, which resulted in about 4 inches of snow and very icy roads, so just about every school in western Washington is closed. Including the one at which the mother of the girl I nanny teaches at. Snow day for Kellie!! And, my sister didn't have school scheduled this week anyway because of parent-teacher conferences and Thanksgiving break. My dad doesn't dare drive in the snow, and all of my mom's day care kids have canceled for tomorrow. It will just be the four of us on a lovely, lovely snow day.

My agenda is as follows (though not necessarily in the following order):

--Pick up my room (mother's orders--the price I pay for living at home rent-free after graduating from college)

--Practice my keyboarding skills in Rock Band 3

--Write some very important and long overdue thank-you notes

--Make Muddy Buddies (also known as "Puppy Chow" to some) for Thanksgiving snacks

--Make some snow angels

--Go for a walk

--Take lots of pictures!

It's going to be a good day.