What started last week as a light dusting of snow has turned into a full week of actual winter in the PNW, with even more snow forecast to come over the next week. Overnight between Friday and Saturday, the Seattle area saw more snow than we typically get over the course of an entire year! While some are starting to tire of all the snow, I’m loving it! When I moved to Washington with my family as a child, I imagined that we were leaving behind the eternal summer of California for Great White North, where there’d be snow for three months out of every year. Our first winter in Washington was a snowy one - not the three months I’d imagined, but enough that we had an extended winter break with school cancelled for multiple days. I loved every minute of it, with sledding, snowball fights, and cocoa to warm up inside while our soggy winter clothes dried. Sadly, while we had a light snow most winters, that memorable snowstorm in 1996 was a rare event, and since I’ve had to head east for adventures in the snow.
During this week of lowland snow, I found time to get out and play in the temporary winter wonderland nearly every day. The snow made even a short walk to pick up lunch feel like an adventure. Even though it had dumped snow Friday night, by Sunday Andy and I were able to drive around Redmond, and met up with friends for lunch and ice cream in town, followed by a walk through nearby Farrel McWhirter Park. Farrel McWhirter is a park I visited frequently in high school, since it was a favorite spot for my friends and me to have picnics, but I hadn’t visited in years, opting for larger parks with bigger trail networks. The snow transformed the small park into a magical woodland. It’s been years, but I may have to return in the spring for another picnic!
