02 December 2007

frightful & beautiful

We received our first snow of the season yesterday. Pacific Northwest snow tends to stop everyone in their tracks; whoever drives does so at his own peril. Because it is wet and heavy, it always turns to a treacherous combination of compact snow and ice when cars pass over it. Add hills to the mix, and there is plenty of slipping and sliding for ill-prepared drivers.

I worked a few hours yesterday and made the decision to leave early when I could see conditions were worsening. No matter which of three possible routes I chose to make the mile and a half drive home, there would be a hill to climb at the end. Were I able to maintain momentum, it would have been fine. But when the cars in front of me stopped, I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere (and given the slick and icy conditions, I was particularly thankful for the fact that I wasn't going anywhere). I had chains in my trunk, but had always had one of the more adept masculine set nearby to do the dirty work. No such luck on this day.

The long and the short of it is this: I'm thankful that there are still people in the world who will pull to the side of the road and help a stranger put chains on her car. It took nearly an hour to get there, but I made it home safely.

And here I stay, enjoying the quiet magic of the snow.

Backyard photo taken by kirsten.michelle, 01 dec 2007
See more of my first snow photos here.

5 comments:

  1. Snow! Wow! What a lovely photo. I'll definitely check the others out, too.

    It's probably one of my worst fears that I would be stranded on the side of the road in turbulent weather with no clue what to do about it. I'm so glad you found friendly neighbors to help you make your way home safely.

    Enjoy a steaming mug of hot tea for me in the snowy weather!

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  2. it's spitting snow here this morning. glad to know you made it home safley. and you only live a mile and a half from where you work? that's wonderful!

    i'm going to check out all those cool, snow pictures in the side bar....

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  3. I linked here from another blog. Lovely soft colors here. I'm at the other end of the country, but we had our first snowfall today, and the NY Times was not delivered because my dirt road was too icy. Oh well, there'll be news tomorrow too.

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  4. Christianne -- glad you enjoy the snow photo(s). I would have been completely stuck were it not for that nice man. There were plenty of other drivers going by, probably thanking their lucky stars that they weren't be (and maybe they were laughing just a little bit!)

    Today, oddly enough, it's 52 degrees with wind & rain. No more snow at all! I've never been so grateful for wind & rain!

    Blue -- It is nice to be so close to work! Thank God for kind strangers. I can't wait to see some more photos of your own snowy home!

    Emery -- Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to viewing some of your own photos. My computer is being tempermental right now & not displaying images, but I'll be happy to view them later. :o)

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  5. Oh, I love the snow. How it slows us. Often gets us reaching out to others. Starts us breathing! I love the snow.

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