“Crazy, I was crazy once.”

I will forgo the rest of the annoying rhyme that never ends. When I played college softball, a freshman one year decided it would be great to say that rhyme over and over again during a drive to a game. I threatened to hit her in the head with my cleats if she didn’t stop.  Guess I came across as serious because she stopped.

But anyway…..

Everyone is going stir crazy. G decided to go to the huge bookstore downtown, got geared up to take the commuter train there, and discovered when he got there that they had shut down the trains.  Ice caused it to derail on a different part of the line, so they took the remaining trains and just ran them back and forth to keep the tracks from freezing.  I ended up taking him down to the bookstore mainly because I can drive in this stuff and can do it without near misses.  The girls ratted him out to me a couple of years ago when I learned how many times they spun out going up to their school on snowy roads.   Yeah, no – we don’t need a car disabled due to an accident.  These are the times I’m grateful for learning to drive on snow and ice in the midwest.

After the bookstore, we wandered to the nearby city park.  Portland has two sets of “Park blocks” which are just what they sound like – they are several blocks in a row that are not developed but left to be green space in the city.  After some photo taking, we stopped at a cafe for an okay lunch that cost way too much.  (This is a well-known place people swear by.  I’d like to call it ‘overrated’.)

The driving around was interesting.  The freeways gave people a false sense of “all clear”.  The onramps are sketchy.  The transitions between freeways and all are sketchy.  Areas of the freeway are rutted with snow and ice creating bumps between lanes that are more than small bumps.  Areas of the freeway still are covered with compressed snow and ice.  Watching people get into an area that looks clear, accelerate up to 60 mph, then see the road conditions rapidly change…..well, just made me cringe and stay the fuck out of their way.  The side streets are even worse with the commuter train tracks being a trap that seems to be getting people stuck on the tracks as they try to cross them.  I have heard of and seen several videos of people getting their cars and trucks stuck on the tracks.  Crazy stuff.

We came home to two kids were are getting a bit crazy too.  I finally sent them and the dogs out for a walk in the snow.

Now the week is done.  The weekend begins – a three-day weekend at that.

Yay?