Today's weather thrilled me. My two favorites are snow and sunshine, and I got both today. Yesterday was all blizzardy and snowy, and when the sun went down several inches stuck. Overnight it all froze into ice. When I woke up this morning, slightly earlier than usual, a gorgeous sunrise greeted me over a white-frozen wonderland.

It was not just beautiful, but mood-altering too (sunshine always makes me happy). Crunching in the snow was fun, and who doesn't love a little sliding? As long as you're not a car, that is. I saw so many stupid drivers sliding all over the place today. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.

The buses were especially amusing this morning. They all had chains on the rear wheels, and they crawled along at something like 15 mph. All the drivers looked terrified that their bus would suddenly slip across the ice.

Luckily, a lot of people stayed home today. Most every school in the state (except Willamette) was closed, and the Capitol was empty. The holiday musical groups cancelled, and very few legislative staffers showed up. The woman at the front desk told me that most of them lived in Portland, and didn't want to make the hour-long trip.

In closing, I'm SOOOO glad that I'm taking the train tomorrow. The walk across the street to the station is so much more appealing than a drive to the Portland airport...

(photos: this morning's view out my window)