Snow Day 2017

This winter has been one for the record books.

Normally Portland and the Willamette River Valley are lucky to see a measurable snowfall event once every three years.  But after two snow and ice storms in December alone, I thought that quota was filled.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

Deep snow in our driveway!

The second week of January, forecasters warned a large band of moisture moving towards NW Oregon would collide with subfreezing air streaming out of the Columbia River Gorge.  As flakes began to fall that evening, I felt like a little kid hoping for a snow day.  Although one to four inches was predicted, as night wore on it became apparent they'd missed their mark.  I measured a solid 6 inches of the white stuff before bedtime, and it was still coming down hard.

Snow-covered neighborhood

The next morning, Portland awoke to a winter wonderland.  Nine inches of fluffy snow covered everything.  Since snowfall of this magnitude hardly ever happens here, local jurisdictions were not equipped to handle clearing the streets.  So they told everyone to stay home.  Yahoo - snow day!

Can't even see my skis!

Giddy with excitement, I dug out my cross-country skis.  The best part about having snow at home is being able to ski from your front door.  I took advantage of the new-fallen snow with an early morning tour to our local park.

Snow-flocked branches

I had the park to myself and gleefully made first tracks through it's untouched white canvas.  All the trees with their snow-covered branches made great photo subjects.

I love snow days!

And I even managed one decent selfie.

Snowy scenes from the neighborhood park

Snow makes everything look wonderful, and the park, with it's stately fir trees, was no exception.

My neighbor Penny joined me in the snow

It was so much fun swishing through the park's open fields, I went home and convinced my neighbor Penny to join me. 

White creeklet

Although Penny doesn't ski, she also loves photography, and we had a blast capturing many unique winter scenes.

Red berries

Later that morning, my hubby and I took a walk around the neighborhood.  Although both our vehicles are equipped for snow travel, it was more fun to explore on foot.

Snowman on Taco Bell Drive thru

I couldn't resist adding a tiny snowman to the top of Taco Bell's drive through speaker!  (Luckily the place was closed)

My hubby and I's snowmen

Back at home, my hubby got busy shoveling the sidewalk.  I was supposed to help, but got distracted rolling a huge snowball.  Pretty soon, I had three snowballs, and it somehow morphed into a snowman.

Lots of shoveling too

 Not to be outdone, Roger put down his shovel and built my snowman a buddy.

Happy snowmen

 Pretty cute guys, don't you think? 

Roger's truck has a mohawk!

After the sidewalk and driveway were cleared, Roger got busy sweeping off his truck.  I had to laugh at the chunk of snow stuck in the middle of his windshield.  Kind of looked like a mohawk.

White spotted fence

The snow stuck to our backyard fence in an interesting pattern that I thought was photo-worthy.

Falling snow

By late afternoon, snow began falling once again.  The huge flakes were so pretty, I tried hard to capture them.  A flock of birds hung out in a nearby tree, waiting for us to refill the bird feeder.

Birds looking for food

Living in a place that seldom sees snow, it was fun to have a day off to enjoy Mother Nature's surprise bounty.  We all need a to channel our inner kid once and awhile, and I was thankful for the opportunity to play in the white stuff on this unexpected snow day.


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