SNOW!
A few thoughts on all this snow:
It really is beautiful, and for Seattle, the three or so inches we've received is a lot, a whole freakin lot for in the city.
I had to walk to work today. Not only were the buses not daring to run down Madison Street, but the police had actually closed the street from Marten Luther King to Pine. The road closure signs didn't stop everyone, though. There were plenty of cars driving around, thinking they were just fine up until the moment they weren't. Between the Safeway and the Co-op on Madison the road actually gets a bit less steep, but it must have been icy there. There were cars everywhere, like it was some kind of junk lot, and there was a handful of nice young men helping people who'd lost control of their cars over to the side of the road.
One women in a cross-over SUV was being helped by two men. They had gotten her car pointed in the right direction and had her rolling slowly down hill, but toward a curb so they could park her. But this woman kept putting her breaks on. The men on the outside of the car, pushing and pulling to get her car rolling the right direction, yelled at her to stop breaking, but she wouldn't. Soon enough the car and the two men, all four wheels and all four feet flat on the ground were sliding across the road at a weird diagonal.
I saw one woman at the junction of Madison and John, trying to turn left from down hill on Madison to up hill on John. For those that don't know, this is a ridiculously steep intersection in both ways. She had slid sideways and couldn't seem to move without sliding. I approached her car and asked her if she needed help. She tried to convince me that, since other cars could get around her, she was fine to just sit there and figure out what to do. I reminded her that she might not be the only car on the road not completely in control, then convinced her to turn her wheels back down hill and roll down into the valley until she could take MLK, which is much less steep than John. The wrong direction, sure, but at least she'd be out of the crazy intersection.
I only saw two bus stops where people were waiting for buses. I guess most people figured out they weren't coming, but I shared the news with people at the stops as I went by. When I got to Broadway, I saw all five of the Capitol Hill buses, including the 43 and 14, which don't usually come up Pine, sitting in front of the Egyptian Theater. The each, in turn, made a left on to Broadway. I don't know where they were going, but their normal routes are obviously not intact.
A lot of people -- and all of the buses -- are driving around with chains on their tires. I'm sure that will make them safer, but in the areas where they've cleared the roads, like I5 and downtown, are just going to get destroyed. It's a shame.
It's interesting to see which businesses are open and which aren't.
It really is beautiful outside. From nine stories up, where my office is, the world is foggy and white and so clean looking. The snow is still coming pretty heavily and I'm sure the buses won't be running in time to get me home tonight. It will be another walk. That's OK, though. I took a lot of pictures in the light on the way to work, maybe I can get some nice night time snow shots on the way home.
I would guess that we've gotten more snow in the past week that I've ever seen in Seattle, all three of my previous winters here combined. It's not much compared to Chicago or even Champaign, but it's different here. The hills and the huge trees make it different.
If this keeps up all day, I think I'll probably stay home tomorrow. That would be fun.
It really is beautiful, and for Seattle, the three or so inches we've received is a lot, a whole freakin lot for in the city.
I had to walk to work today. Not only were the buses not daring to run down Madison Street, but the police had actually closed the street from Marten Luther King to Pine. The road closure signs didn't stop everyone, though. There were plenty of cars driving around, thinking they were just fine up until the moment they weren't. Between the Safeway and the Co-op on Madison the road actually gets a bit less steep, but it must have been icy there. There were cars everywhere, like it was some kind of junk lot, and there was a handful of nice young men helping people who'd lost control of their cars over to the side of the road.
One women in a cross-over SUV was being helped by two men. They had gotten her car pointed in the right direction and had her rolling slowly down hill, but toward a curb so they could park her. But this woman kept putting her breaks on. The men on the outside of the car, pushing and pulling to get her car rolling the right direction, yelled at her to stop breaking, but she wouldn't. Soon enough the car and the two men, all four wheels and all four feet flat on the ground were sliding across the road at a weird diagonal.
I saw one woman at the junction of Madison and John, trying to turn left from down hill on Madison to up hill on John. For those that don't know, this is a ridiculously steep intersection in both ways. She had slid sideways and couldn't seem to move without sliding. I approached her car and asked her if she needed help. She tried to convince me that, since other cars could get around her, she was fine to just sit there and figure out what to do. I reminded her that she might not be the only car on the road not completely in control, then convinced her to turn her wheels back down hill and roll down into the valley until she could take MLK, which is much less steep than John. The wrong direction, sure, but at least she'd be out of the crazy intersection.
I only saw two bus stops where people were waiting for buses. I guess most people figured out they weren't coming, but I shared the news with people at the stops as I went by. When I got to Broadway, I saw all five of the Capitol Hill buses, including the 43 and 14, which don't usually come up Pine, sitting in front of the Egyptian Theater. The each, in turn, made a left on to Broadway. I don't know where they were going, but their normal routes are obviously not intact.
A lot of people -- and all of the buses -- are driving around with chains on their tires. I'm sure that will make them safer, but in the areas where they've cleared the roads, like I5 and downtown, are just going to get destroyed. It's a shame.
It's interesting to see which businesses are open and which aren't.
It really is beautiful outside. From nine stories up, where my office is, the world is foggy and white and so clean looking. The snow is still coming pretty heavily and I'm sure the buses won't be running in time to get me home tonight. It will be another walk. That's OK, though. I took a lot of pictures in the light on the way to work, maybe I can get some nice night time snow shots on the way home.
I would guess that we've gotten more snow in the past week that I've ever seen in Seattle, all three of my previous winters here combined. It's not much compared to Chicago or even Champaign, but it's different here. The hills and the huge trees make it different.
If this keeps up all day, I think I'll probably stay home tomorrow. That would be fun.