Go Boldly Forth

The snow has finally melted and we’re making our way in to more windy, wet January storms at last.  Not that it wasn’t fun and all, but I’ve had my fill of aggressive / defensive all weather extreme driving for the year.  All of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington was covered by more wintry precipitation than I’ve seen in all the years I’ve lived here. 

Now that I’m back at work I’m having some serious trouble focusing on much of anything.  Not sure that’s a new problem, though.  A combination of solitude, iTunes downloads, house cleaning and a season and a half of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (nostalgia, you know?) were the substance of my little winter break.  I also did a lovely Christmas with the fam. 

The power went out on Christmas Eve at Dad’s and we played Yahtzee in the dark and I fell asleep in front of the woodstove contentedly full of wine and ham and homemade bread.  The power was restored overnight thanks to the heroic efforts (because it really was quite nasty outside) of the Clatskanie PUD.  Thanks, guys. 

Most of the rest of Christmas were some lovely and useful gifts and a whole lot of Black Books, a great British show that was as hilarious as it was inappropriate for the holiday.  And Mom’s apple pie.   Mmmmm.

So far 2009 seems to be off to a bumpy but far from boring start.  I suppose we’ll see how things unfold.  At the very least, it should be interesting work-wise, life-wise and “big picture”-wise.  Here are some snowy pictures that are far from an ordinary Oregon December.

In my opinion, the St. Johns Bridge is really the most attractive bridge in town.

 

If Winter had a road that led directly into it, it would look like this.

 

Ian and Dad, don’t throw elbows on the way down the hill, guys.

 

Yes, it really was as fun as it looks.  The part you can’t see is the hill that descends for a good hundred yards.  Whee!

All this and I still found time to roast a turkey and cook up some corned beef and cabbage in my shiny new Crock Pot.  My little baby Canon-on-a-shoestring point and shoot camera is making its way to me so hopefully I’ll have a gadget that will actually take indoor pictures that don’t look like murky streakscapes.  No more of this “blame the photographer” stuff.  But they say it’s a poor craftswoman who blames her tools…  Sigh.

~ by Hillory on January 7, 2009.