A Beautiful Morning in Portland: The Quiet of a City Snowstorm

Portland is blanketed with about 8 inches of snow and the city, for all intents and purposes, is closed. Few planes are taking off. Bus service has been contracting as they struggle to keep some lines running--only those with frequent service are operating now. The MAX is struggling to keep up. The few snow plows that are available are dedicated to the major arteries. Ainsworh Avenue, just around the corner from our house, is not one of those major routes...and neither is our little avenue!

Nancy and I went out for a walk this morning. The city is eerily quiet compared to the east where one would hear the scraping of plows, both on streets and driveways, the roar of engines and spinning of tires, the sounds of salt trucks, and the splash of slush. Instead, the streets are filled with chatter as people discuss this rare snowfall event, and with the sounds of skis and snowshoes as lots of people haul out equipment they generally have to drive 75 miles to use. Here's some parked outside an eatery on Alberta.


We did discover that the "story" that President-elect Obama is in Hawai'i is just that, as you can clearly see by the picture to the left. He apparently is visiting a neighbor just on the other side of Ainsworth and he's dressed for the season.

The walk in the snow was nice, but we both agree that we're ready for the snow to go away. Maybe in a few days. Heavy rain is predicted to move in behind the storms. Ah, back to Life in [Normal] Portland...