Snowbound, sort of

Good news for local news teams and Les Schwab profit sharers: it snowed in Portland. It started yesterday morning and continued through most of the day, accompanied by a fierce cold wind that the meteorologists have described as "arctic". With the wind chill, the temperature outside "feels like" 9 degrees F. Yes, really. Today it melted just enough to become a giant sheet of ice over the entire region.

Since Portland is not a city accustomed to such weather, everything shut down. It took ten minutes for the closures update crawl to get from "All Saints Academy" to "Westside Christian School" on TV last night. Unfortunately, I have learned that being a government employee means not automatically getting the day off when it snows. It's something to do with the union treating everyone equally (including emergency personnel), and with taxpayers not liking those lazy city employees getting to stay in their warm houses, and so my office was open for business.

But that doesn't mean I went to work. Despite having all-wheel-drive on my Subaru wagon, I didn't have snow tires or chains currently on the car, and I don't get enough practice driving in the snow to feel confident out there. My dad came by later and drove me over to get some work from my desk, so I could at least do something at home, because the cold weather is supposed to persist through the week.

I took the dog for a walk this morning, up to the grocery store to mail my sister's birthday card. We did fine on the sidewalks and grass, but crossing the major street between me and the store was a little terrifying. It's just one big long thoroughfare of ice, and Sam pulled insistently at the leash while I was trying to tread slowly across. We made it, but then we had to do it again on the way home (downhill, this time). Next time I will wear my cramp-ons.

There were children skidding down the hill behind my house on sleds, toboggans, garbage can lids, or just their snowsuits. It looked like fun. The girl from upstairs met me as I was taking Sam out, and told me her brothers wouldn't come out to play with her. I don't understand that: the best part of a snow day (especially a sunny one), other than getting to skip school, was going outside to play in the snow. I would have offered to join her for sledding, but I knew I had to go by the office soon. Also, it hurts a lot more when I fall down in the snow now than it used to.

After he took me to work to pick things up, I treated Dad to a hot drink, and then he helped me put chains on my car. It's supposed to stay below freezing all week, with another chance of snow on Wednesday, and I can't miss that much work. I'm almost out of personal leave as it is, because I'm still in my probationary period and I get about 1.2 hours of PTO (personal time off) per week. I'll get the rest of the time I earned in February, but I can't use it yet.

Dad very kindly rode around with me while I tried out the chains, and then helped me tighten them on the wheels. I've never driven with chains on before. Please, cold-weather-dwellers and skiers, don't make fun. I am an excellent rain driver, but it doesn't snow here often enough for me to develop my skills. Other than a general bumpiness, I found driving with the chains on quite easy. We'll see how it goes when I drive to work tomorrow.

I also put up my Christmas tree this weekend. I tried to get Sam to pose in front of it for a Christmas picture, but he loses interest quickly in sitting still if there's not a treat involved. And if you're wondering, Sam is feeling pretty well (or so it seems). He'll be receiving his first injection of immiticide, the stronger heartworm-killing medicine, in January, with another in February, and he has to be kept pretty quiet for two months. But I think he's going to be okay, because I have to keep thinking that, and he seems to be happy here. He's content to sleep on the futon in my office at home all day while I'm at work, and he and the cats continue to adjust to one another, slowly, slowly. He looks forward to our walks together, and so do I.

And now, I'm going to make myself some dinner and gaze at my Christmas tree.