right on and okay

(from before Christmas)

The snow is almost totally gone! We're now looking forward to the more traditional pacific northwest winter weather of rain and driving winds. I don't mind, but I loved the snow! It was incredibly beautiful. I've been working the past two days and have heard more bellyaching about the weather than you would believe. (mostly, I think people are just happy to be out of the freaking house -- after we've covered that they won't be charged any fines for the days the library was closed due to weather, the next logical step (apparently) is to say "well, in Boston/Chicago/ Milwaukee they know how to handle the snow!" or "I have lived here for my whole life and have never seen it this bad" (although old timers have of course seen it worse, which they describe in loving elaborate detail) or "I put my weather machine in my top secret ice cave and you'll never see the sun again! Mwahahahaha!!" (All of these people are my favorite.)

ANYWAY, I'm getting ready to go to a postponed Christmas dinner. Yay!! It was delayed due to weather, and I'm glad I get to see my friends, eat a lot and open presents even though it is December 28. (I love the continuous celebration, although I think at this point I am fueled almost entirely by caffeine and cookies.)



But, the reason for this post is to show you some pictures I took at the park right before Christmas. Someone(s) had gone out in the middle of the night or early in the morning and made this crazy ice labyrinth type thing from the crunchy ice layer on top of the snow. (I love you, whoever you are! This is even better than the giant snowball, although I think the snowball will persist until summer.)



(these photos were all before Christmas. Now we're in the messy melting phase.)