One year...

...and counting.

Yesterday was my first anniversary of being in Seattle. Yay, I've made it through 100+ rainy days, and many more cloudy ones. I still like it here.

My friend Megan and I went out to the Olympic National Forest to snowshoe on Hurricane Ridge yesterday. Boy was that fun! Snowshoeing is not as demanding as cross-country skiing and not as dangerous as downhill. I'm really not convinced that it's more fun that downhill sledding with my toboggan on McClellan, but it's definitely more safe.

The Beacon Hill Bobsled Team.

Hello 2009!

Happy New Years Folks!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. I did. My mom came to visit me here in Seattle from Christmas till New Years Eve. We went out every night, hosted a jam square dance at my house and ate donuts!! Below are some of the photos from our time together.

Mom, on fiddle, Dave on Guitar, me on the banjo. We are playing the first square dance!

"The Burrs"-Charmaine, Brigid & Bronwyn

Charlie, Charmaine, Brigid and Bronwyn

Everyone enjoyed Charmaine's buckwheat molasses cookies!

I took mom to Gold Gardens and we walked along the shore collecting rocks and seashells. The sun was shining, the waves were crashing and the wind was fierce.

Pat(our cousin) and Mom at their house on Mercer Island.

Mom wants to be a grandma, she was getting her fix holding the new baby brother of the kids I used to watch. We all got together for donuts at Top Pot. They are some of the best donuts ever.

Mom, me and Darren at his house in U-district. We got lunch together and visited the music store to play around on guitars and banjos. After that I drove my mom to the airport, the week flew by. I know she'll be back again soon.

SEND YOUR SNOWPLOWS & SALT TO SEATTLE!

Is 18 inches of snow really THAT big of a deal??? In Seattle it is. The city is paralyzed by a winter snow "storm". It's totally ridiculous. They've cancelled all outgoing flights due to "weather conditions". What they need to admit is that it's because they cannot deal with mother nature. Seattle owns a handful of plows, if that, and I have not seen a single salt truck. I feel as though I am living in pioneer times, getting of a hill and onto the next is dangerous because the ice is layering the roads and snow has caked over that. There are unnecessary accidents, because the city hasn't gotten it through it's thick skulls that a couple of snow plows might actually help. I was hoping global warming would help government change their ways.... I guess not.

On a more positive note, the third day of our Winter Arts Camp went really well. We made Luminaries and made a snowman at Cal Anderson park. The kids named her "Lady Winter Arts". Tomorrow is the last day of camp; we'll be weaving cedar bark baskets and making clove oranges.

Thundersnow & Sledding

So last night around 5am, the thunder woke me up and lightning struck twice pretty close to my house. The light actually illuminated my room. After that it started snowing like crazy. I found out today that this phenomenon is known as thunder snow. Below is the wikipedia definition of "thunder snow".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow

Waking up later at around eight, I realized that it would be my fourth straight snow day of not going into work, because there were at least 3-4inches of snow on the ground. This amount of snow is really rare for Seattle.

I decided to spend my snow day sledding with a friend of mine. We walked down to McClellan ave, a pretty steep hill going from Beacon Hill down to Rainer Ave. It was closed off for car traffic, but there was already a group of sledders trying out the slope as we arrived. Also there were people with snowboards and skis. We tried using the plastic lids for garbage cans and containers, but those didn't really work. Others there had brought some Masonite boards that were coated in white on one side, making them really slippery.

The sledding was absolutely amazing. I have never gone so fast in my life down the hill on a sled. My favorite rig was the strip of Masonite, which was about the size of my torso. I layed with my belly on it, face first, arms and legs up and just glided down the hill. It was kind of like doing yoga, using my stomach muscles to keep my arms and legs off the ground.

This street is a series of about 4 hills all in a row and at the bottom of the second one the kids built a jump out of a pile of snow. I did that jump, my sled stopped, but i kept flying and landed flat on the ground. It was the equivalent to a belly flop in the snow. My thighs now feel as if they've been sunburned. Despite the aches I might have when I wake up, I am quite satisfied with my sledding experience here. Maybe, I'll try it again tomorrow...

Snow Days

Seasons Greetings from Seattle!

It is snowing and cold here! Today we reached a high of 30F, a very cold day for Seattle.

Yesterday and today I had snow days from school! The first ever in my life! Living in Chicago, they wouldn't even cancel school at 2 feet of snow. Here in Seattle, only a few inches of snow are necessary to shut down the schools. I don't think Seattle owns snowplows or salt for the roads, so they are still icy, which makes going down steep hills very dangerous.

There has been abundant sunshine, which is awesome, so I decided to attempt sledding yesterday with my friend Stephanie. We basically scooted down the hill. I bet after tonight's snow, we'll have better sledding. They don't even sell sleds here, so I was using the round plastic cover to the garbage can. It kind of works like a saucer sled.

It's been so fun to bundle up in the many winter clothes and leg warmers I own. Cold, frosty, crisp winter weather is fun when it doesn't last for 4 months. I think 4 weeks of this weather would be great.

Some of the most beautiful creations happen when ice freezes over the living green grass.

3-5 inches of snow are predicted for tonight! I am excited. I missed the snow.