This is the coldest Thanksgiving week here in Western Washington in 25 years. And also the snowiest. I remember Thanksgiving 1985. I was home for college when the storm hit.I had to chain up my mint green Pontiac Sunbird and drive it back to school. If I remember correctly my dad followed me back because I didn't have much experience driving on ice and snow.
Yesterday started out with the forecast saying that most of the snow would be from Everett south so I thought we wouldn't get much snow at all. However, by 8:45 AM as the students were getting off the bus it started snowing in Arlington. It snowed hard, but the flakes were the dry tiny ones that don't amount to much. By lunch it had warmed up a bit and that first round of snow melted. Then the temperature dropped suddenly, and it started to snow again, this time with larger flakes that piled up more quickly. The big problem is that the snow that melted formed a layer of ice under the new snow.
Basketball practice was canceled so I had to go get Noah from school during the last recess for my students. Lots of parents came to pick up their kids early. The buses were late and since the principal lives within walking distance of the school she took the remaining kids to the gym with a few other teachers and told those of us who live farther away to get going. The last group of kids were picked up at 6:00 PM, almost two and a half hours after school got out. It took Noah and I more than twice as long as usual to get home. Many people I know were on the road for 3-5 hours to get home last night.
Noah and I had a quiet day at home. He had a friend come over. They sledded a bit on our road, and they played a lot of Call of Duty, Black Ops. I made cranberry sauce, pumpkin bread with craisins, and pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips. We're waiting for Forrest to get home with Alyssa for Thanksgiving. School is also canceled for tomorrow. I'll have to get the turkeys in the brine for Thanksgiving and bake a pecan pie. We're having dinner with friends in Arlington starting with a yummy brunch and then eating all day.
