after the snow

As Portland comes back to life after the biggest snowstorm in decades, a few memories from the past couple of weeks stand out:

Walking around the downtown streets of Portland last Monday was eerie- and great fun. Everything was closed- everything, including the banks - save a couple of coffee shops (natch).

Seeing crazy sports enthusiasts four-wheeling through the middle of town.

Skiers skiing on the downtown streets and along the banks of the Willamette River is a sight I will never, ever forget.

Eating frozen pizza from the 7-11 beat the other option, waiting an hour for a bus that may or may not show up to go to a grocery store. When we walked (all over!) downtown, the one viable restaurant, found on the charming river walk was, inevitably, pizza schmizza.

Trying without any luck to dig my 4x4 out of the snow; when I parallel-parked and left a foot in front of me and behind me, I had no idea the other drivers would abandon their cars, the snow under my truck would turn to ice or that the only way out would involve a snow shovel.

My nice neighbors, who moved a car, lent me a shovel, offered to bring back fruits and vegetables from the grocery store and generally just made the week a lot easier. Comments from neighbors included “I gave up on my life a week ago” (that made me laugh) and “never, ever, ever, in the 25 years that I have owned this home, have I seen snow like this.”

Stores on the central coast, in Corvallis and in other towns are still waiting on basic supplies or received one shipment and need more because of the run on things like bread, milk and cigarettes.

For now, we’re back to normal- more or less. The heavy rains and melted snow mean an endless flood warning for some areas and even makes driving on main roads treacherous. I’m glad we had a beautiful white Christmas in Portland. Rather amazing, since everyone told me it never snows here. I've got some pics up on flickr.