Freezing Rain

Yesterday we had some freezing rain here.  In true Portland fashion, it was very light rain over the course of the whole day, with some brief moments of heavier precipitation.  It accumulated pretty well - I went out to my car mid-morning because I had a lunch appointment, and the ice build-up encasing my entire vehicle was pretty good.  Given that the grass was crunching underfoot and there was ice on the edges of the sidewalk where there was no salt, I had to stop and consider what I was doing.

You see, I grew up in Oregon, but I've never really driven here much during the winter.  I'd been hearing emergency sirens throughout the morning (and continued hearing them all day), and I was going to have to drive on a bridge across a river at some point.  I thought about it.  Could I do it safely?  Probably.  They may have canceled school, but plenty of people had gone to work.  It was also a low-traffic time of day.

But you know what?  Freezing rain is some of the worst weather in which to drive, because it's ICE.  I went back inside and made arrangements to reschedule the appointment.  Sometimes, it's ok to not take a risk.


Because I chose to play it safe, I was inside all day, feeling very cozy.  I did work-related reading.  I wrote a bunch for NaNoWriMo.  I posted my interview with author Marie Timm.  I published my editing services page.  I put some dishes in the dishwasher.  Etc.

Today the sun is out and the icicles on my frozen little deck are melting.  This means I can safely venture out to run errands, which is good because I'm out of milk and I need to swing by the bank.

Yeah.

Very exciting.

That's life as a writer between jobs, for you!  :)


Anyway, see you tomorrow.  I think I'll do another episode of Off the Shelf...