Snowmageddon 2012

This week was full of inclement weather here in Seattle. At our house, which is near the bottom of a hill, we had at least 6-8 inches of snow, followed by an inch or two of freezing rain, and more snow before it warmed up. I get really irritated when people from places where it snows a lot mock us for panicking in half a foot of snow. Here's the thing, Seattle is completely comprised of hills, these hills are lined with curvy, tiny little streets. A snow storm of this magnitude happens once every 4-5 years so the city is just not set up for snow in the same way that other places are. The whole city has about 42 road de-icers but it would take at least 50 more to actually de-ice all of the roads. Meanwhile all of those massive trucks would have to be stored, maintained, fueled, and navigated down winding secondary arterial routes. Since we pretty much all drive smallish cars, most of which are only two wheel drive, the icy hills everywhere make it so people that try to drive are likely slide down hills into intersections without stopping. It just isn't worth it.

So we stay home. Restaurants, businesses, and roads are shut down and the whole city takes a few snow days. We sled down barricaded roads, walk through the empty streets, and watch our cars become slowly buried under snow and ice. I only had an hour and a half of work on Wednesday (instead of my usual 5), Thursday off, and a late start on Friday. Ricky was lucky enough to get all of those days completely off. Needless to say our week was pretty relaxing. We played in the snowy yard with Lucy, hung out with neighbors, and snuggled inside and read books. I read the first Hunger Games book and loved it; I went to the bookstore today and purchased the second two. Yesterday Ricky spent about an hour digging and scraping out our car. Every surface was covered in ice and the the top surfaces had several inches of snow on them. It took some serious work but he rescued our lovely new car and drove me to work. It rained yesterday for several hours. The rain combined with the temperature rise made everything super-duper slushy and wet.

When I woke up this morning the snow was almost completely melted. All that remains of the massive snow storm is that dismal dirty snow that gets piled up along roadsides. That is my least favorite thing about snow--the leftovers. It reminds me that winter magic is now over and that the cars are polluting everything as much as ever. Gross.

These pictures are from the first day of snow, it only got deeper after that. Ricky mentioned the other day that we never take any videos of anything so we decided to take a super short snow video so we can remember Snomageddon 2012--you all are the lucky recipients of this lame production. Hooray!

Obey

Obedience.

This is the word that I have been thinking about a lot lately. I haven't been thinking about it in particular relation to any one thing (religion, parents, etc.), just thinking about it generally. I came to the conclusion a week or two ago that I have never truly been obedient for obedience' sake. Never. I can't even think of one time. This conclusion really startled me for some reason; I started asking myself if I was a heathen child or if there was something wrong with me.

When I was a small child I remember being sent to take naps. Naps! In the middle of the day! I could never see the point in nap taking and, being the stubborn child that I was, screamed at the top of my lungs and threw horrible tantrums in my room until I eventually tired myself out and went to sleep. I didn't like to eat veggies either. Again, I cried, moaned, whined and either my parents grew tired of hearing me and let me off or I ate my peas not to be obedient, but so I could leave the table and avoid being sent to my room.

As a teenager the story was pretty much the same. I made a lot of really good decisions. These decisions just so happened to go along with whatever the rules and guidelines that were set out for me were, so avoided a lot of trouble. It may appear as if I was obedient in a lot of areas but I was actually just reasonable and smart (not trying to sound braggy). The point is, I don't make choices based on whatever I am or am not supposed to do or because someone told me to do it (be it Jesus, the president, my mom, my husband, or my dog). I'm not saying that I don't take the advice of others into account, I certainly do. I like to look at all of my options, weigh the consequences of each, and then decide what the best choice for me is.

I guess that I must value my ability to choose for myself very highly. I know that among my many choices I can choose to be obedient, but I just never do, that usually isn't even an option that crosses my mind. This is how I see it, if I just do something because someone told me to do it I run into a few problems:

1) Responsibility for the action gets muddy. If I am obedient and do something that has consequences that I don't like, whose fault is it? Can I be blamed? Does whether or not I am at fault have any bearing on my feelings about the outcome? I don't think so. I think that obedience is sometimes used as an means to relinquish responsibility for making hard calls or being to blame.

2) I think that obedience makes people dumb. If we all go around being obedient how will we ever really learn anything? Can anyone really argue that lessons we learn from others are as impactful as those we learn for ourselves? How do we know when to stop being obedient and when to think for ourselves? Obedience in excess can definitely lead to nasty outcomes.

I know that it could be argued that obedience is good in moderation but it is really hard for me to even think about making my brain consider that. Here is my dilemma, (it always comes back to the core beliefs doesn't it?) God gave us free agency and also gave us commandments that He wants us to obey. I know that being obedient shows faith in the Lord but does making the right choices because I choose them instead of because He told me to count for less? I just can't get on board with that. I like to think that my ability to consider all options and then choose the right should be worth more than a bit of blind obedience. I also know that God gives us commandments both because He wants us to be happy (making good choices will lead to our happiness) and because He wants to test our faith. I do make good choices (usually), I am happy, and I am fairly faithful in most departments. Plus, He knows the faith that is in my heart regardless of what I'm actually doing, doesn't He? I think that my choosing my own path is a good challenge and I think it helps me to grow, learn, and discover more about my individual spirit.

I'm not saying that people that make choices based on obedience are bad or wrong, and I'm definitely not saying "look at me, I make all the right decisions on my own!" I am just realizing that, for whatever it's worth, I am not obedient. After weeks of ponderings about this, I have decided that I like this aspect of myself the way it is and I don't think I'll change it in the near future. Maybe when I have kids I'll change my mind or I'll mature more later in life; we'll see.

Regardless, my opinion that we are all different has been affirmed through this process. We all think in different ways, experience life differently, and have different learning styles. In the end I say "whatever works."

A New Year, A New Beach

We took a little excursion to a beach in Seattle today. I have seriously been craving some outdoor time lately. I feel like I've been cooped up in a hot and stuffy restaurant for a thousand years! So we went to the beach. For my fellow Oregonians, we all know that we don't actually go to the beach, we go to the coast. Seattle's "beaches" are really nothing like the Oregon coast, but enjoyable all the same.

First of all, it only took us about 15 minutes to get there. Second of all, it wasn't the Pacific ocean that we dipped our toes in, it was the Puget Sound. We went to Golden Gardens park. Golden Gardens had a decent bit of sand, some rocks, and even a little tide poolish area with anemones. It had a wetland area, a big grassy open area, a stand of trees, picnic areas, and a sweet playground.

 Even though this beach experience was not the same as what I am used to, we had a really fun time and the fresh air did wonders for my mood. Lucy had a blasty-blast too.

I still don't really like living in Seattle and I'm not going to force myself to like it. I'm not actively trying not to like it, I just don't.
What I am trying to do is not dislike Seattle itself just because I don't want to live here. It isn't Seattle's fault that I only have like 2 friends here, that I have a hard time driving on freeways, or that I'm just not a big city person.

Seattle has many redeeming qualities. There are nice views almost everywhere you look. Some views are mountains, some are water, some are harbors, some are city scapes, but all are quite lovely. Seattle has lots of great shopping, restaurants, and fancy houses which, if we weren't poor would be very nice. Seattle has a great recycling and waste disposal program. Seattle has an aquarium AND a zoo.

When we were at the beach today I realized that I should try to have a better attitude. The beach was beautiful--it helped remind me that I do love the small naturey parts of Seattle and that they have value too. They might even need me more than the naturey parts of Eugene and Salem because they are so small and few.

Now that I have a job and a car I'm going to spend some time this week choosing a place to volunteer. I want to volunteer at least three times a month at some sort of environmental program up here.                                        

Just because I can't find a way to do it where someone will pay me for it doesn't mean I shouldn't still save the planet.

I think I am giving 2012 a fighting chance for being a worthwhile year. I hope you all are too.