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Niels Hoven

I like Seattle in the winter

The snow was just beginning to fall when I drove my roommate to the airport at 4:30 am. When I woke back up for the second time, there was a good two or three inches on the ground and Seattle had shut down.

I tried the “working from home” thing, realized I couldn’t live without dual monitors, and headed out the door to walk to work. It took less than a minute for me to discover the layer of ice underneath the snow, resulting in me sliding a good 200 feet down my hill. (Mostly on my feet, but not entirely.)

The situation hadn’t changed much by the time I left work, so I ended up walking to the top of Queen Anne hill to meet a friend for happy hour. The roads were still covered with ice and empty of cars. But people were out anyway – walking their dogs, carousing at pubs, or just wandering around the frozen winterscape. All of a sudden, I lived in the middle of a walking city. It was fantastic.

I also took this opportunity to sled down Queen Anne hill, one of the longest, steepest hills in Seattle – now closed to traffic for the night. We tried cardboard boxes from Trader Joe’s to start, but found that the trashcan lids from Kerry Park made much better sleds. Hot cocoa followed and I’m now typing away in front of a roaring fire. A good day, overall.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Jeremy

    I grew up in the Northwest and this winter is unlike just about anything I can remember. We usually don’t get half this much snow in a year, and it’s still not even Christmas. But it definitely is a nice change of scenery.

  • AJ

    whoaaa!!!! walking!!
    wait… deja vu?

  • beertree

    Oh my god Niels! I think you’re super cool like Chuck Norris! I totalllyyyy hear you on the working at home thing w/out dual monitors… it’s just ridic.
    Oh, maybe next time before you fall on your ass for 200 feet you should try to be a little more like MacGyver – because we all know he would have found a way cooler mode of transportation.
    Anyway, beertree out –
    Have a great day boobsweat!

    x’s and o’s

  • I’ll be missing snow in SF. :( But today it’s 70 degrees and sunny, so I guess it’s just a tradeoff.

  • I only wear waterproof shoes when hiking. I lived in Boulder in the 70 s. Our weather is nothing like yours. We rarely get anything like your lows nor your dramatic sudden shift to a sunny 65 degree degree after a foot of snow the day before. We as said are about light rain and 40 s or low 50 s daytime and low 30 s to low 40 s at night. We may have just had our only snowstorm