cold as ice

they're calling it the worst snow storm in 12 years in the seattle area -- lots of snow and freezing rain, and because of unusually cold temperatures, none of it is going away. according to the latest forecasts, it looks like we'll be somewhat 'snowed in' for another week. "no need to dream of a white christmas -- it's coming." one local told me that this is the kind of thing that only happens once in 30 years.

thankfully, we were able to pick up b from the airport, after a bit of drama. she was supposed to come in on saturday night, the night when the big part of the storm hit. because of inaccurate communication from american airlines, i thought she was coming into seattle just an hour after her scheduled arrival, when in actuality, her plane was being diverted to san francisco. so i braved the blizzard en route to the airport, having to stop periodically to remove the ice from the windshield wipers when i could no longer see. driving in the snow here is typically more difficult than in montreal; even though the snowfall is not as heavy, they don't salt or clear the roads, so you're driving in a lot of snow and ice. thank God for those winter tires we brought from montreal, a gift from the river church community in san jose.

when i got to the airport, i discovered that they had closed the cell phone waiting lot, which i thought was ridiculous. but a number of us were actually chased away by a gruff police officer. i waited for about 90 minutes before we figured out what had happened, then made my way back to our house in the snow storm, only to find that the road was closed just a mile from home. i made it home anyway, passing at least one car that had been abandoned by the road side. i parked at the bottom of our hill and hiked up. the snow was so heavy and the hill so steep that i think i was getting about six inches per step.

upon returning home, we confirmed that b was on the ground in sf, awaiting departure to seattle. i worried about what we would do if she got to seattle and i couldn't get through, but her plane was finally grounded. good friends c and n rode to the rescue, picking up b at sfo and shuttling her back to their place for a nice dinner and a good night's rest in a warm bed.

yesterday morning, they took b back to the airport, where she finally departed for seattle. church friends on this end offered to pick her up at the airport and bring her to within a mile and a half or so, where we were hoping to hike out and pick her up. i wasn't sure what we were going to do with her (large!) suitcase, but before we had to find out, g from across the street offered to take me to pick her up in his awd. not long after that, we were all eating lasagna back at the house!

because of the dangerous weather, church was canceled for the second sunday in a row, so this time, we experimented with a live video broadcast, and i gave an informal message from our living room to some 23 viewers; don't know how many were watching per computer, but that was probably most of the bridge!