A Guy, Two Girls and a Pup

No pics, since I didn’t think to take the camera, but I went a few mile hike with the snowshoes today.  Momma and little M stayed home with their colds, while Dad strapped on the snowshoes they brought from Wisconsin and clomped up the hill to the ridge.

We probably got about 6 inches in the neighborbood last night.  There are no cars attempting to make the drive up to the ridge, so the street in front of our house is a sledding hill.  I stopped two blocks up to chat with some of the families in the area.  Kids and Moms alike on saucers, Dads and tots on plastic toboggans, and one or two obvious 30-year old imports to the area with the old-fashioned, wood slats on metal frame and runners, steerable.  Man, those things were cooking down the street - perfect conditions, with new snow on top of packed down iciness.  I watched one guy scream down from Phinney to the traffic circle at Dayton, steer around it without stopping, and continue on down to Fremont.

I really want to take little M sledding now.  We have no sled, and most of the families have gone back inside now that the snow is coming down again, so that’s not an option at the moment.  The hardware store has been out of plastic sleds, sand and deicer since Thursday.  Possibly shovels as well.

I continued on up to Greenwood and hiked down to 85th.  there were a surprising number of people out, walking around.  I’d say half had kids, cameras or both.  It’s quite an event and people want to get out nd experience it.  Seattle hasn’t seen snow lite this since 1995 or so, from what I hear.  I had a few people comment, positively, on my snowshoes, which I didn’t see anyone else with.  That might seem a little odd to say (who wears snowshoes in the city, you say?), but there were plenty of skiers, and very few walks were cleared - conditions were great for it.

I did my shopping (a bit of Christmas and a card for Aunt Shirley, whose husand passed unexpectedly last night) and hiked back as the snow started coming down again, in big flakes.  Walking back down the hill, there were only a couple kids still out, who set up a speed bump to catch air on the sleds on the way down - it worked pretty well, too.

All day has been gray and snowy, but I understand a bit more about Seattle now.  The gray rain and snow doesn’t bother them much here, and I think it’s partly to do with the fact that this is a walking city.  Even if you’re driving from point B to C, you’re usually walking from A to B and C to D.  And they all do it, so there’s a sense of shared community and, well, not burden… mayeb responsibility.  There’s something about that movement and comradarie with others doing the same thing that perks the spirits, even when it’s uphill both ways in a foot of snow.

-K

And better than ever! Introducing a whole new era in Bluehouse blogging, now with even more news and updates!

You may remember that we had a fetus in the works. That fetus is now this lovely little girl:

Who, if you can believe it, is rolling over already (somewhat) AND, just last night, slept through the whole night! As in, 11pm to 7am (and counting! Stay tuned for the update from Kevin on how long she actually slept.) 7:30am!!!

In the meantime, these Bluehouse people are still here and doing fine: