Snow's so infrequent in Seattle that it's fun and exciting when it arrives. As it did this morning, beginning at 5:30 a.m. The flakes started falling with two gigantic explosions of thunder and lightning that made my hair stand on end. And that caused my cats to leap from the bed and duck into wherever they've located their bomb shelter. It's been snowing ever since, and now, in mid-afternoon, we have about four inches here in my neighborhood. Lots more in the surrounding suburbs, especially the hills. More snow is expected, and temperatures below freezing are anticipated until Christmas.
Snow also is infrequent enough that it causes major transportation problems when it arrives. I hear laughter from around the country. "Four inches? Transportation problems?" But yes, such is life here in Little Eden that "weather" is almost synonymous with mild temperature and gentle drizzle.
I have a personal stake in our local transportation problems. I'm scheduled to hop on Amtrak's "Coast Starlight" Sunday morning, at 9:45, for a 35-hour ride to Los Angeles, en route picking Jesse up from UC Davis early Monday morning. To do so, I need only show up at the King Street Station at the appointed time, waving my ticket.
Aye, there's the rub. How do I get there? I planned to take a taxi, but they've been reported to be in short supply -- and unreliable in making their appearance -- during this confluence of snowy weather and Christmas travel. Shuttle Express is accepting no more reservations until at least after Sunday. The Metro bus that runs along the arterial nearest my house would be an obvious alternative, but that line has been re-routed during the inclement weather, so as to avoid having to struggle along its usual route up and over Capitol Hill.
I'd risk driving, but there's no long term parking near the train station. I'll be gone for over a week, which guarantees I'd be towed from any illegal parking space I squeezed my car into.
I guess I'll try getting a cab Sunday morning, and, if I can't, I'll trudge for a mile and a half with my baggage to the nearest functioning bus stop. This hardly makes me a martyr in the eyes of residents of Cleveland or Buffalo, but I'm a spoiled West Coast guy. If you don't see any posts on this site during January, please ask the Seattle police to search for my frozen carcass.
In Christmases of yesteryear, folks just snuggled up in a blanket, letting their sleigh glide over the river and through the woods, when to grandmother's house they went. Life was simpler then. More Christmassy, too. (I suppose some poor, cold, underpaid serf had to harness the sleigh to a horse -- I never worry about details like that in my fantasies.)
Aw, shucks. Maybe I'll just pray that it warms up and rains by Sunday!
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