There’s No Day Like Snow Day
There is something about inclement weather that makes people more human in my eyes. Once in college, a dry lightning knocked out the power in my shitty apartment complex and people started slowly trickling outside of their homes. We asked around to see who had electricity and who didn’t. It was apparent we were all in the same situation, so someone brought a Frisbee. Soon, an inter-generational group of us started tossing it around and got to know each other for the first time, despite sharing the same walls.
Yesterday in Portland, we received around 2” of snow and it was delightful to explore a city that was mostly shut down. The lack of budget for the Portland Bureau of Transportation means that snowplows are scarce, and the environmentally minded policies means that putting down salt is not a common action. When you combine poor road conditions with high winds knocking over huge trees, freezing rain that turns surfaces into skating rinks, and a general lack of familiarity with how to handle snowy conditions, most businesses end up closed here. Besides the grocery stores, liquor stores, and dispensaries of course. Got to have the essentials!
After a slow morning of joining my cat to watch the flurries dance outside my apartment windows, I decided to head out into the world to take some pictures. Something that I love about street photography is the act of documenting a space in time. When something like measurable snow only happens here once a year or so, it feels like something worth capturing and remembering later. I walked a few blocks to my closest bus stop (shout out to the 15 line!) and observed humans being human along the way. Dogs in coats sprinted with glee at the park across the street from my place, children made snow angels in the narrow strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road, elderly ladies linked arms for safety, and a person with a Bluetooth speaker came by playing a Fred again.. song that reminded me of a birthday spent in St. Charles, MO 3 years prior.
The bus came, chained up, full of melted snow in the aisle. It was cute to see flakes decorating people’s hair like confetti, and I couldn’t help but laugh at a phone conversation I heard behind me. “Yeah, I have the rest of the day off and I’m getting paid for it. Tomorrow I’m off too! I’ve been alcohol free for 6 days, but I might drink tonight. Ya know, it’s a snow day!”
I got off on Burnside and St. Clair so I could transfer to the 20 to get closest to the waterfront, and immediately saw FWD cars spinning out trying to make it up the steep inclines of the Goose Hollow neighborhood. A man with a paper grocery bag joined me at the bus stop in observing the shitshow. He had a beautiful blue jacket on that matched his eyes, and we began the age-old practice of small talk about the weather. When I was younger, I hated small talk, it felt forced and unnatural and predictable. Maturity is realizing that small talk leads to bigger talk. He began to share stories of his past life in Maine and Rhode Island, what his Valentine’s Day plans were with his wife, and we shared our favorite pizza places in town. I spoke of memories of the Midwest and appreciated the hardiness that Wisconsin winters gave to me. Seeing someone on a Lime scooter make it up the hill was a shared laugh as well.
Buses got delayed, lines were outright canceled momentarily, and we eventually both got on the 15 together to go our separate ways. A man stood up front and talked with the bus driver about the road conditions while I stared out the window, in awe of a city painted with a different brush. I got off on SW Alder and 4th and walked towards the Willamette River waterfront, a place that calls to me when I don’t know where else to go. Natural bodies of water in a city have always appealed to me. I have fond memories of Lake Michigan and the Cumberland River from previous places I’ve lived.
I was drawn towards the Hawthorne Bridge because of the giant silver dragon (pictured at the end of this blog) that is currently there as part of the Winter Lights Festival, and I decided to start walking North from there. I saw other photographers out and about that I briefly spoke to, people in full ski suit get ups riding fat tire bikes, a woman taking pictures of a stuffed animal in the snow, a group of college-aged kids making a snowman, and a few birds here and there that didn’t seem to mind the change in their environment. It was a pensive walk, the water below slow-moving and without much more hue than the pallid grey sky above.
Once I got to the Steel Bridge, I cut into the Old Town neighborhood in hopes that the Lan Su Chinese Garden was open, knowing that it would be a rare opportunity to capture the grounds covered in snow. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day like most everything else, and I snuck a few pictures through the openings in the fence while outreach programs delivered hot meals to people on the street there. I have yet to visit the Garden, but want to make it a priority to visit soon!
I walked West up Burnside, helped a man in a wheelchair get onto the bus, and rode a few stops. I was hoping that Powell’s was open, but my luck ran dry once again. I stopped in Everyday Music to wait somewhere warm for the bus, and De La Soul played over the store speakers while I reminisced on all the record stores I used to visit before selling my turntable and collection before moving to Portland.
The 20 was going no further than NW 19th due to the inability to make it up the hill, so I trudged along with others towards NW 23rd, eventually making it home to edit some pictures before going to my climbing gym that was thankfully open. I’m taking myself out for Valentine’s Day today to see a movie, go to dinner, and spend another day at the Winter Lights Festival. I’m hoping to have a blog up about the Festival soon too. :)
Pictures from my journey are below!
