Thursday, December 23, 2010

A Gift God Wrapped in Green



For all my East Coast friends, acquaintances and readers, please listen to the above song, "Christmas in the Northwest". While I am not the biggest fan of the song, it does embody a bit of Portland: corny, about five years behind the trends stuck in a time warp, full of love, and green. The green is everywhere with the bounty of trees and agriculture we have in the Northwest, broken up only by the gray that never seems to end covering the sun, possibilities of snow, and carrying a constant drizzle.

The slides and images accompanying that song are a fluke. In December 2008 we had a freak snow storm that covered the Northwest. It was beautiful, a winter wonderland to behold, bringing joy to children's faces and many rants about the inefficient city structure for dealing with inclement weather. Since Portland does not get snow often, or in any predictable manner, we are often close to a state of shutting down with snowfall. The obvious downsides include stranded travelers, a disgruntled populous, and countable economic losses from lack of business. The not-so-obvious benefits include a city wide snowball fight from the Arlene Schnitzer Hall to NW 25th Street.

Despite all the downfalls, I want some snowfall.

Going to college in the Northeast is possibly spoiling me, or rather, the four year old inside of me who scares people with so much winter joy and twinkle. My thoughts on snow have been voiced, and especially coming from Southern California to Portland, Oregon to upstate New York, I am dreaming of a white Christmas. It is truly a Christmas miracle for Portland to get snow this year, but at Christmas, you tell the truth, and all I want for Christmas is snow.

No comments:

Post a Comment