WTF? I mean, really. WTF?
I’m heading for the bus last night around midnight. It’s raining in glorious Oregon fashion, but I’ve got an umbrella and sensible shoes, so no worries. I’m listening to Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here on the personal sound system, having flashbacks of being at the coast during a winter storm. The new MAX tracks running on 5th and 6th look like small creeks. I puddle-hop across, catch a bus home. My neighborhood? More of the same. It’s raining, a warm rain considering it’s January.
About 2 AM, I cross paths with a family member heading to work. She grumbles, “I wonder if I need to take the chains…”
“Why?…” I ask.
“Have you looked outside?”
“I just came in from outside. It’s raining. News flash!” Some days I can’t help being a smartass.
“News flash yourself. Go look. It’s snowing.”
“Bulls**t!” I looked out the window and my heart sank. Instead of rattling off the fifteen to twenty words you can’t say on broadcast TV I’d said out loud, I will give you the family-friendly version:
“Oh, bother…”
I did NOT want to start this crap all over again. On the upside, it probably wouldn’t last long. I mean, I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and feeling comfortable outside mere minutes ago…
I curled up, went to sleep, to be awakened about 5 AM by my niece. “Uncle Charlie? Can you make the lights come back on?”
Grr…
I spent the next two hours reassuring a ten-year-old that everything is fine, that our dark old house is the same house as when the lights are on. (Didn’t help much.) The upside? We had a pretty good time, despite my sleepy/cranky demeanor. When her mother got home I got a big kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to sleep now.”
A couple hours later, the power came back on. The nearby substation had flooded, but power had been redirected. Why does this always happen right after I buy a week’s supply of food? I threatened death or dismemberment to anyone opening the refrigerator. Fortunately for them, the power came back on before anemia set in.
Now? It’s flooding up the street, but my bus is running. (I’ve been watching Transit Tracker and then checking the window. So far, so good!) According to Jim Donovan, KGW News, this means we might have an early spring! Not a moment too soon for me. I’m quickly tiring of this extreme weather.
I’m making Dave Salesky the official weather scapegoat this time. C’mon Dave, give us a break…
{ 2 comments }
I KNOW! I was sitting on my couch enjoying my late night hours since I didn’t have to work in the morning, and noticed the rain had stopped. Then, I looked out and and realized it was really, truly, snowing. Then I growled with annoyance, no, not again!!
I know that snow is made higher up where it is usually colder, but I still think it’s odd to see snow falling when my outdoor thermometer says 44 degrees. This winter is a strange one.
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