Weather advisory one for the diary....
We're under blizzard watch conditions here. We were hit with 27.5 inches over the weekend. Just about dug out from that and lo and behold forecasts calling for another foot of snow that started last night around 7pm and will go thru midnight tonight. You guys know how I feel about the song but for once Midnight Can't Strike Soon Enough!
Being from Houston I'm something of a novice when it comes to snow. When we moved to Seattle I expected a lot more snow. It rarely falls in the lower elevations. First winter there we got slammed. My son was 2 and we were at home. Something took me outside on the back deck. In nothing but my fruit of the looms (briefs , if you must know) and a black wool coat. Barefoot. I was only going to be out there long enough to address something (less than a minute) and head back in. What I didn't know was that the door to the back deck was in the locked position so that you could exit thru the door but once closed it was locked. So there I am, hardly dressed, barefoot, and locked out of my house. In almost 10 inches of snow. I tried and tried to find a way into the house. I got into the garage but the door into the house was also locked. It was in the garage I found black dress shoes to put on my cold feet. Picture it.
Tried and tried again, to no avail, to get the attention of my son. He was but a few feet away sitting in front of his favorite Barney videos. The volume was up and I could see him clear as day thru the blinds. Singing happily along oblivious to my attempts to cut in long enough to have him notice me there at the window and come see what the fuss was all about. Nothing. It's about 10 am. We're relatively new in the neighborhood. The houses are packed together like sardines. My neighbor's kitchen and living room window face the back deck I'm on. I'm counting on the laughter in my head (theirs, if they are home, looking out at this sight) to keep me warm. It does. Finally, I find a window that offers a chance at entrance to the house. It's not a gimme. It's unlocked. But it's 10 feet off the ground I'm standing on. In a nice pair of dress shoes without socks. I'm 6 feet and I haven't a ladder. I scrounge around and find a makeshift woooden framed mesh screen the old homeowners had left under the deck. Looked like something you might mine gold with. I find this somehow appropos looking back. I make my way up and in. It takes a while. It's not pretty. I hope to God the neighbors are not home. I am, at last, back inside. My son looks up at me and smiles. I smile back.
He's old enough now to help me figure a way out of this snowy mess. You know, some things never change.
Reporting from Philadelphia where for the last several days I have caught myself singng a Shawn Colvin song just to maintain perspective while digging out from beneath this mountain of new fallen snow.