Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Snowy weekend!!

The winter has been quite severe this time around and most parts of US have borne the brunt of the polar vortex and the arctic blast since we stepped into the new year. While the East Coast and the Southern States are getting swathed in piles of snow, with more expected this week, Pacific Northwest got its share of snow this weekend. What started as flurries on a chilly Thursday noon, soon turned to a snow fest. Within a few hours, nearly 2-3 inches of snow could be found all around and more was to follow. As the school buses pulled up to drop the kids off, the air was filled with squeals of delight at the amount of snow that had already accumulated on sidewalks and walkways. For me this was the most snow I had ever seen right at my doorstep, and so when S returned early from work thanks to the winter weather, we decided to take a stroll in the snow. The snow being fresh was really soft to touch and obviously very very cold, but I had to hold it in my hands and feel it. The child in me was having a gala time. A couple of hurried clicks on the camera phone and we were back to the warmth of our home. Even with the blinds down, it felt like the whole neighborhood had flood-lights tuned on, the white snow was reflecting light and even the night was bright.




Friday morning was snow-less but there was no way one could distinguish the street from the side-walk, so it was work-from-home for hubby. With schools closed due to the weather alert, children were running around playfully in the snow, having a blast throwing snow at one another. By noon, it was snow-time again and soon more white frosting was being showered all over the city. Winding up work early for the weekend, we decided to venture out farther from home and capture some of the snowy charm on camera. And so we set out fully geared up, mufflers and gloves and caps on, trudging along on snow. Each step had me giggling with joy, feeling as if I was walking on a giant cake that had fluffy white icing in a fairy land. More snow followed on Saturday and towards evening, the snow had turned to freezing rain. The rain drops are like ice drops and this meant it was harder to walk about. The snow that had so generously taken over every visible surface, was now hardening to ice. While it is fun to walk in snow, it is quite scary to walk on ice, there is every chance of losing your balance and falling while walking on ice. But it was a cosy night as we had a dinner get-together with friends who luckily stay in neighboring apartment communities. Sunday was snow-free, but with the temperatures barely above freezing, we felt it will be quite a while before the snow cover vanished for good. Apparently it had been quite a while since Portland saw this much snow at a stretch, By Monday evening, the movement of cars on the roads had managed to clear out most of the ice. The apartment maintenance guys pitched in by clearing snow from the stairs and salting them to prevent ice from re-forming. After a very memorable snowy weekend, all we have now are traces of snow on the rooftops, and patches of snow on the sidewalks from which grass is already peeking out. What's more, it has been raining on and off since yesterday and so Portland is back to its usual rainy avatar.

16 comments:

  1. Walking and playing with snow surely is a lot of fun :-)

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    1. Yes Amrit, it was delightful to walk on soft white snow :)

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  2. Beautiful pictures.Alluring narration.Feel like watching the sparkling night snow.

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    1. Thanks Sarala :) The nights were as bright as the day for those two days.

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  3. The pictures are beautiful and the description is amazing. I always felt that snow was over rated (i liked nature being colorful more) but now I want to have that experience too.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this post Rahmath. Nature is beautiful in all seasons, personally I too prefer the spring look the most. But autumn and winter have their own charm too :)

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  4. Your pictures are lovely and I enjoyed reading all about how the polar vortex has affected you in your neck of the woods. I think this is the worst winter we have had here in the midwest in recent memory and to be honest...I am ready for it to be over. To think, I even like snow but I have had enough. LOL

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    1. Too much of anything does that to people Kathy. Weather has thrown up a lot of surprises all over US the past few months. For now I only think of the beautiful spring that will soon head our way :)

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  5. Ive never experience snow but love the striking images. Cheerz

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    1. Thank you Vishal :) Glad you enjoyed your visit to my blog, keep dropping by.

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  6. It was so beautiful experiencing snow through your descriptio. Even I loved walking on snow covered mountains in Sikkim. We become s o childlike throwing snow balls at each other.

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    1. True Rama, snow never fails to bring out the child in us :)

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  7. Tell me about it. We were in Atlanta, Ga. this week. Stayed from Sunday night to Thursday morning. Then came this ice storm. Stuck in the hotel room from Tuesday evening to Thursday afternoon flight. Flights were cancelled and took another circuitous route to reach home after midnight on Thursday.

    We lived in Salt Lake City for 6 years. We never bothered about snow. Life went on as usual.

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    1. Oh yes, this year has been all about snow and it has been a traveller's nightmare. Too bad you had to face its ire SG. Hopefully the wedding festivities and meeting friends more than made up up for the weather woes.

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  8. I can feel the fun and joy and excitement you experienced during the snowy weekend. Fab clicks.:)

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    1. Thanks Shilpa :) It was a really awesome feeling :)

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