Blizzard of '14

Picked Maty up from work

Weather reports on Thursday told a harrowing tale of log-jammed traffic a mere half-hour's drive to the south of my place of employment. Interstate 5 was bound for miles in both directions according to the ODOT weather cameras, causing myself and many of my coworkers to abandon the office and flee northward before the advancing front.

Driving north, I saw evidence of the storm on the refugee vehicles around me. Snow clung to bumpers and tail lights and gathered at the base of rear-view windows. But the pavement was still clear when I arrived home.

Not so a mere hour later. Snow was falling in miniscule, dry flakes. It accumulated in the frozen gutters and scudded in wisps across the pavement, driven by a fierce east wind. (Ever Portland's scourge, that wind.)

At 2:30 pm. I made the short drive to Maty's place of employment to spare her the cold walk home. At that hour, the snow was thick, burying the street curbs and speed bumps.

Setting out for Freddie's

Maty was restless when we got to the house. "Weather like this, you never know," she said. "Let's go to Fred Meyer and buy food." So we bundled up and set out.

Although a mere four city blocks measure the distance between our house and Fred Meyer, it was an arduous trek nonetheless. The wind blew ice directly into our faces and the sidewalks were treacherous.

Before we did our shopping, we walked the extra block to the pho place and ate bowls of pho and drank hot tea against the cold.

Nothing like pho on a snowy day

Fortified and encouraged we went to Fred Meyer. The aisles were all hustle and bustle. We were not the only Rose City folks to see the prudence in a trip to the grocer. We purchased fish (snow cod, appropriately) and other groceries.

Made it

Thus provisioned, we hurried home. Our backs were to the wind on the return trip. Between that fact and the reassurance we took from our supplies, the homeward leg wasn't nearly as bad.

That was Thursday. Today, Sunday, conditions haven't improved much. The snow is still here with an added layer of frozen rain. But the wind, at least, has abated.

It's a veritable blizzard, but we're getting through it alright.

Hang in there, Rose City! Let's not go all Cormac McCarthy on each other.