Those of y'all who are all too aware of my antipathy for Houston will probably be laughing at me this morning as I admit to (almost) missing Houston. Given that the Portland area is dealing a cold snap unlike anything this area has seen for the past 40 years, it's hard not to miss the Gulf Coast winter right about now. With something like a foot of snow on the ground where I live in Beaverton, and significantly more at some of the higher elevations, it would be difficult enough. When you consider that part of that is actually a layer of ice, and you might be able to understand how challenging things are around here.
Granted, bleating about the harsh weather is not going to garner a lot of sympathy given what's going on elsewhere around the country, but Portland is simply not equipped to effectively deal with this sort of thing. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I can't simply just decide to stay off the roads and stay home from work. Thankfully, I live only five miles from my office, but even that short drive was an adventure yesterday as I navigated blowing and accumulating snow, an ice-covered windshield, and a roadway I couldn't see. Due to the elevation and topography of some parts of town, there are people who literally can't leave their homes because there's no way to safely navigate icy roads in their neighborhood. In parts of the West Hills, or in Oregon City and West Linn, there are some folks who may be stranded until after Christmas depending on what the weather does.
The good news is that the Portland area looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell vignette. The snow that we've had over the past few days has adhered to just about everything, giving the area a pristine, white aura very different from the norm. Yes, it's pretty, but I'm ready for it to go away. Snow in Portland is not unusual; normally, we'll have snow perhaps two or three times a year. It will be postcard-pretty and white for a few days, the city grinds to a halt, and then it will melt after a couple days, returning life to normal. This, however, has been going on for more than a week now. I don't mind the cold, and there hasn't been much wind, but the snow and the ice is getting old. Every time I drive to work, to the gym, or to the grocery store, I'm risking a $500 deductible- no matter how careful I am. I grew up driving in this sort of stuff in northern Minnesota, but no matter how careful or skilled you are, you can only control so much of what is happening. There's no way to control what people around you are (or aren't) doing.
It would be one thing if the Portland area was properly equipped to deal with harsh winter realities, but it's not. Then again, when this sort of thing happens every 40 years or so, how do you prepare for it? It's no wonder that I find myself (almost) missing Houston....
