Stormy weather
I'd forgotten how dazzling the snow-covered world is when the sun comes out. When I flicked the blinds open this morning I'm pretty certain I yelped as the light stilettoed its way into my dark-adapted retinas.
Yesterday was our first real snowstorm. Nothing life-stopping, just a few inches; it snowed steadily if not heavily for most of the day and into the night. (Brian called it "movie snow" - thick enough to be noticeable, but not so heavy as to obscure the shot, and not windy enough to muss the actors' careful coifs.) Much to my pleasant surprise, driving in it was not nearly so miserable as I'd anticipated. Most folk around here seem to understand the concept of "drive slowly and carefully when it's snowing and the roads are slick". The only part that made me raise my eyebrow was when, while turning left at a six-way intersection, the woman behind us started leaning on her horn when we didn't turn against the light. In a slick, unsalted intersection. While our path was still blocked by a string of gridlocked cars. Brian (who was driving and could see her in the rear view mirror) said she was yelling and screaming and about to have a coronary when we ended up waiting for another 90-second light cycle. I shrugged and thought maybe she was late for a job interview or her mother's deathbed or something, but we saw her not a minute later pulling into the Costco parking lot. (Maybe her mother was dying at Costco?) I guess that ninety seconds of her life must've been incredibly important to her. Maybe she's an transdimensional traveller and could see that we were literally ruining every single one of her futures by causing her to arrive at 12:45:28 instead of 12:44:02? Who knows. But I'm sure glad I don't live inside her head.
Nevertheless, we got a couple of errands done, including some new clothes for Brian, new wiper blades for the car (hurrah, Costco!), and an adjustment on Brian's 12-string (hurrah, Chicago Music Exchange!). And once we got home, I finally managed to clear the last of the boxes out of the living room...just in time to fill it with the Christmas tree and the boxes of decorations! Heh. Still, there's something rather appropriate-feeling about putting up the tree on the day of the first real snowfall. Now to find time to decorate...
Last week was busy, but fun. I dyed my hair red (see new icon) and bought a pretty silk chiffon skirt and wore both to Brian's new company's Christmas party, which is a pretty good-size event. I got to meet and befriend an out-of-town friend's girlfriend, who is super-awesome - intelligent and kind-hearted and also gorgeous; I can totally see why my friend is so into her, and it's awesome to see her so happy. And I got to see a couple of art museums around town, including the local Mexican Museum of Folk Art and the Art Institute's display of Food and Art, which included the originals of both Norman Rockwell's Freedom From Want and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. (Seeing the latter in person was especially entertaining, as I'd seen roughly eighty billion Photoshopped versions but never spent much time looking at the original.)
Social meetings continue apace. I've managed to tentatively befriend one girl near my age who moved here from South Carolina; she's planning to bring her boyfriend over for dinner come January when she's back from touring with her current theater group and visiting family over Christmas. And I met another at the Evening with Paul and Storm and Patrick Rothfuss; we're meeting up at the Christkindlmarket tonight at 6. Hurrah for making friends somewhat faster than I did in Arizona. Or at least, signs pointing in that direction.
Also? For all my Alaskan upbringing, after four years of AZ, there's something a little shocking about pulling up the weather forecast and seeing the low for this evening marked as a single digit. Almost as weird as it was the first year in Arizona seeing triple-digit highs. Guess I must like extremes.
Yesterday was our first real snowstorm. Nothing life-stopping, just a few inches; it snowed steadily if not heavily for most of the day and into the night. (Brian called it "movie snow" - thick enough to be noticeable, but not so heavy as to obscure the shot, and not windy enough to muss the actors' careful coifs.) Much to my pleasant surprise, driving in it was not nearly so miserable as I'd anticipated. Most folk around here seem to understand the concept of "drive slowly and carefully when it's snowing and the roads are slick". The only part that made me raise my eyebrow was when, while turning left at a six-way intersection, the woman behind us started leaning on her horn when we didn't turn against the light. In a slick, unsalted intersection. While our path was still blocked by a string of gridlocked cars. Brian (who was driving and could see her in the rear view mirror) said she was yelling and screaming and about to have a coronary when we ended up waiting for another 90-second light cycle. I shrugged and thought maybe she was late for a job interview or her mother's deathbed or something, but we saw her not a minute later pulling into the Costco parking lot. (Maybe her mother was dying at Costco?) I guess that ninety seconds of her life must've been incredibly important to her. Maybe she's an transdimensional traveller and could see that we were literally ruining every single one of her futures by causing her to arrive at 12:45:28 instead of 12:44:02? Who knows. But I'm sure glad I don't live inside her head.
Nevertheless, we got a couple of errands done, including some new clothes for Brian, new wiper blades for the car (hurrah, Costco!), and an adjustment on Brian's 12-string (hurrah, Chicago Music Exchange!). And once we got home, I finally managed to clear the last of the boxes out of the living room...just in time to fill it with the Christmas tree and the boxes of decorations! Heh. Still, there's something rather appropriate-feeling about putting up the tree on the day of the first real snowfall. Now to find time to decorate...
Last week was busy, but fun. I dyed my hair red (see new icon) and bought a pretty silk chiffon skirt and wore both to Brian's new company's Christmas party, which is a pretty good-size event. I got to meet and befriend an out-of-town friend's girlfriend, who is super-awesome - intelligent and kind-hearted and also gorgeous; I can totally see why my friend is so into her, and it's awesome to see her so happy. And I got to see a couple of art museums around town, including the local Mexican Museum of Folk Art and the Art Institute's display of Food and Art, which included the originals of both Norman Rockwell's Freedom From Want and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. (Seeing the latter in person was especially entertaining, as I'd seen roughly eighty billion Photoshopped versions but never spent much time looking at the original.)
Social meetings continue apace. I've managed to tentatively befriend one girl near my age who moved here from South Carolina; she's planning to bring her boyfriend over for dinner come January when she's back from touring with her current theater group and visiting family over Christmas. And I met another at the Evening with Paul and Storm and Patrick Rothfuss; we're meeting up at the Christkindlmarket tonight at 6. Hurrah for making friends somewhat faster than I did in Arizona. Or at least, signs pointing in that direction.
Also? For all my Alaskan upbringing, after four years of AZ, there's something a little shocking about pulling up the weather forecast and seeing the low for this evening marked as a single digit. Almost as weird as it was the first year in Arizona seeing triple-digit highs. Guess I must like extremes.