snowbound sunday (day 7 if you're counting)

[aslant]

woke this morning to find a new fallen snow on top of the 3 inches from yesterday, and now everything is covered in a quarter-inch of ice. dad was going to bring us some groceries in his AWD subaru, but they're asking that nobody drive unless absolutely necessary. so we decided to take a walk to the convenience store:

it made me laugh to walk on the ice, which would crack around your boots as you stepped in it, creating great slanting pieces that pushed up into mountains, and long cracks that would shoot out from where you'd stepped. stomping along, breaking the thick crust. on the roads themselves it's not as bad, but the snow is very compacted and icy, and it's only about 20° outside.

it turned out our little convenience store was closed. the 7-11 on the main road might be open, but that is down one treacherously steep hill and up another, all for a crappy loaf of bread and a can of tuna or something? at the very least they'd have beer! kirk might attempt that later today. so far during this snowed-in weekend:

• made maple syrup sandwich cookies with lemon cream filling using just what was in the house
• checked the weather.com storm advisory almost hourly, starting to quibble with tiny changes in wording in case they generate hope for monday's commute
• started a batch of tiny christmas tree ornaments out of fabric in my stash
• kiboshed plans to make a potluck dish for tonight, as beth's holiday in the tropics party is cancelled
• wondered if we'll be able to make it to my parents' for christmas eve, at this rate
• watched 2/3 of the way through the lord of the rings movies, saving #3 for tonight
• started looking at what's left in our cupboards and fridge in a funny way, in case we have to start eating plain rice like monks
• nearly drunk our way through the GIANT jar of hot chocolate mix from kirk's mom last year
• started to think about getting an AWD for our second car, someday
• worked on other random holiday craft projects as much as my aching back will allow
• lamented the lack of a deck of cards to play drunk uncle with

am i being dramatic? maybe. in theory we could hike down the treacherous icy hill (in my ridiculous rubber rain boots, the only vaguely appropriate footwear i own) to the bus, take it 1.5 miles down the road, cross more treacherous icy roads and giant parking lot to get to fred meyer, go grocery shopping and come back, but that does sound silly. ask me about it tomorrow night, though, and it will start to sound totally normal. there's nothing i want more than a simple roast chicken dinner on a day when it is utterly impossible.

Comments

[lazurstzthmt.livejournal.com]

At least the interwebs are still up.

The image you posted is wild. i thought you had some sort of snowshoe, on your boot.

[aslant.livejournal.com]

i know, thank god we haven't lost power. then we'd lose heat and be very, very sad indeed.

it's kirk's foot there, but yeah. the slabs of ice are pretty huge when you break through the surface. the ice is more than a quarter-inch thick, maybe more like 1/3" or something.

[lazurstzthmt.livejournal.com]

did you make it out, today or did the weather work against you?

[aslant.livejournal.com]

i went out and trekked around a bit on our street, gawked at the icicles and the snowbound car, and then went inside and got warm while kirk hiked down to 7-11 for beer and some other provisions :)

i think for xmas my dad is going to drive the 15 miles to get us, there's no way it will melt enough before then for us to drive to their house. what a week this has been!

[brickred.livejournal.com]

and throughout it all, I have worked every day this week!

I continue to be bummed that I haven't been able to enjoy this weather at all because I've been too busy trying to navigate it. tonight I drove home from our last messiah performance, got stuck in a drift on belmont, got pushed out by some hipsters walking by, tried to make it back to my friend's place, where I was crashing/gerbilsitting, couldn't do it, and finally abandoned the car in a street parking spot on hawthorne. then I dragged my suitcase and carryon a couple of icy, steep uphill blocks to the bus, stood there for awhile, went into safeway, realized I didn't have my wallet (at the register), walked BACK down with my suitcase to the car, retrieved the wallet, boarded the bus, transferred to the MAX, transferred to the red line shuttle, and arrived at the airport. all in hopes that my flight will actually leave here before Christmas day. F U, weather.

but I am not actually that curmudgeonly. on my way back from getting coffee during my work break, I saw a dude snowboarding down 10th street downtown; everybody is SUPER nice and I love the sense of camaraderie; 300 people still came to messiah! and if I don't make it home for christmas, it sounds like I might have a date :)

good luck getting unburied! :)

[aslant.livejournal.com]

you deserve a medal for your service to the community this week. your commute is insane!! crossing my fingers that your newest flight delay eventually goes away. or if not, that your date goes well ;)

i saw on twitter that PCS had a good turnout for all the performances of christmas carol that stayed open, which is just so heartwarming. i'm glad that people are cheerful even against the odds.

the good news is that last night dad did get through with our bag of groceries, so we have provisions to last us for a little longer. we'll probably end up sleeping overnight at my folks' house on christmas eve to save my dad driving us out and back. we need chains badly!!