Holy Snow!

It might have made national news for it surely made the local news -but it was snowing yesterday - I mean like snow globe snow. It didn't start off that way. In the morning as I drove North up I-5 explaining to a skate friend, who has never driven in such bad weather, how not to hydroplane we came into a snowy wonderland in Lynnwood. It was real snow and really sticking. By the time we headed home an 1.5 hours later, Seattle proper was getting sleet. By the time I headed to Capitol Hill (near where I work) it had turned into fat, fluffy snow flakes -simply beautiful!

The snow stopped by 11 p.m. though the streets were so quiet as I drove to work this morning - more quiet than Thanksgiving day itself. As I left work, it started snowing again - tiny snowballs (not hail), poured snow. It was super fun as I crept home, past the university where student were have impromptu snowball fights and kids were sledding on the one inch of snow in their tiny front yards that graded steeply towards the icy streets. I stopped by the Fred (Fred Meyer, Kroger chain) to get some Christmas lights to decorate my small apartment. So festive and so fun. Of course, anyone who knows me knows I love the snow and have been dubbed "snow princess" in my past.

Seattle does get snow. According to the weather Channel, Seattle gets on average 7 inches a year. I think we got one inch over this weekend. However, the 8 snowplows that the county owns are all used to push the snow off of Snoqualmie Pass which goes over the Cascades, connecting Eastern and Western Washington. So while the 8 plows are pushing off the real substantial snow, the city folks are left to fend for themselves. As my skate friend Heidi, who is native of Seattle, stated "and what are those 8 trucks going to do - scrape the 3 inches of ice off the streets." I told her about this amazing thing called salt...or sand. In any case, snow accumulation is so rare that there is no need for so many plows.

Now, tonight, the sound of children has been replaced with people spinning out and tires trying to grab traction on the ice. The streets are still so quiet and no one is out.

I hope we get a snow day tomorrow! That would be so much fun!

~the photos are from iceskating with friends at Seattle Center this weekend.