The big tease finally delivered the goods.

Maybe not the HISTORIC! foot or two hyped but a respectable 4-8 inches of snow finally came to Highline early Wednesday morning last week.
Can you imagine Eastern Washington residents turning a half-foot of white stuff into Snowmageddon?

Let’s face it; Western Washington and snow go together like Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. The buildup to the actual snowstorm seemed longer than the 72 day-marriage of Kardashian and her basketball-playing husband.

The reasons for this snow craziness are well documented—we don’t know how to drive, our vehicles are not properly equipped, our municipalities are not prepared, hills are everywhere.

The TV teases us with shots of snow misery surrounding us but we look outside and see bare and dry. Our area doesn’t have microclimates; it has block-by-block climates--inland/waterland, uphill/downhill, sunny side/shady side, rain shadow/Puget Sound Twilight Zone.

On Sunday the 15th, the white stuff teased us by falling but not sticking. So Marge and I ventured out to stock up for the predicted storm. It was a madhouse at Fred Meyer as our fellow Burienites stocked up, too. Long gas lines resembled the old gas shortage days.

Loaded up, we were almost safely back home. But, hey wouldn’t it be fun to stop at Mick Kelly’s for lunch?

Staring out the pub’s window, we turned toward the server to give our order and then turned back. HOLY CRAP! That stuff that had been harmlessly falling all day was instantaneously piling up.

A very quick lunch was followed by a white-knuckle ride back home around Dead Man’s Curve, perched 100 feet above Maplewild. I knew that would be a winter worry when we bought the new house.

Monday’s morning commute wasn’t bad but I grabbed all I needed to work from home for the duration and fled work early. This computer-connected world is a mixed blessing. You don’t have to risk life and limb getting to work during a snowstorm but you don’t have the unfettered feeling of an unexpected day off.

Luckily, I had Tuesday off and I made plans to hunker down for the predicted preliminary before Wednesday’s big blast.

Preparations had included an early Monday morning phone call to cancel my Tuesday dentist appointment.

“Uh, I just can’t make it in tomorrow because of the terrible road conditions from the giant snowstorm,” I told the answering machine.” I made sure to get the call logged in before the 24-hour cancellation window.

Of course, Tuesday there was no snow--only dry roads. The sun even came out briefly. There’s no way to get through a Seattle snow scare without looking like an idiot.

A trip out revealed more crowds stocking up and more long gas lines. Somewhere in Highline, there must be basements stacked to the ceiling with enough provisions to last through next winter. I hate to think where all that extra gasoline is stored.

As a snow-less Tuesday night arrived, the endless tease as I obsessively watched local TV news started getting to me.

“Hey, Parka Boy,” I yelled at the TV. “All, I want is Jeff/Steve/Rebecca to say is ‘Tomorrow morning at 7 a.m, there will be 3.5 inches of snow on the ground at Eric Mathison’s house and he will be unable to go to work.’

Then, I could peacefully sleep. Get up. Do a little work on the computer next to Marge as we listen to smooth jazz. Watch the neighborhood kids slide down the hill. Note how majestic it looks outside while sipping hot chocolate or wine. Cozy up to a warm fire. Watch a movie and eat popcorn. Wake up the next morning with the snow all gone… and get on with my life.

When the big snow actually arrived, we had a fun day-- even without hot chocolate.

We walked up to Seahurst with a welcome pit stop at The Bean coffee stand. I admired a snowman by Bistro Baffi chef/owner Michael Vujovich that closely resembled a self-portrait. Nearby was a two-headed snowman by youngsters Alden and Jess Omstead. We warmed up in the local market while getting butter for the popcorn.

Our luck held out as we narrowly averted a power outage on Thursday that affected about 350 neighbors down the block. But we got our outage Friday morning for a couple of hours.

While Wednesday was a nice break, by Thursday cabin fever was setting in. And while we expected the snowstorm, the outages, downed trees, and ice storm were a little over the top.