November Blast!

Winter Storm 2006 has come and gone. Life slowed nearly to a stop for a few days, but we’re off to the races again this morning.

Up here in the Pacific Northwest we prefer not to shovel, per se. Snowplows are rare and road-salt simply isn’t done (it’s just so “red-state”…). These things would be too disruptive to the ecosphere, so we allow nature to take her course. Normally, that means waiting for every scrap of snow and ice to melt away; a process that can take as long as two or even three hours.

Occasionally, though, Alaska exerts its chill and the whole place freezes over. This is the signal for every idiot with access to a motor vehicle to hit the streets and go berserk. It’s a time-honored tradition around these parts to take a couple of inches of snow and turn it into a state of emergency. It is, after all, one of our few ways of making the national news.