[Axial tilt is the reason for the season]

This has been a really odd December. I have succeeded in not working a single Wednesday all month. The first two fell to a death cold, the next two to snow days (yes, really, more on that later), and the 31st I’ll be in Canada, as is my New Year’s tradition.

Christmas is frequently weird anyway. I don’t really celebrate it anymore since my family moved away, plus my job is very holiday-intensive. My office, eaten by the holidays (and many more photos after the jump):

The days off work did give me the time & energy to put up my wee Christmas tree for the first time since I moved back to Seattle. If I had known I’d have all that time off, I could have for once reciprocated the lovely cards I got.

Time off work? Yes indeed. Seattle was hit by three snowfalls in quick succession. The total accumulation in my neighborhood was around 10 inches, and it’s been staying put. Both things are weird for Seattle, where we traditionally get an inch or two & cancel everything for a day, and then it’s all melted off by noon. Like this totally typical dusting from the 14th:

Instead, we had Snowpocalypse. Our office was closed for five days plus one late start. Which is good, because on that late start? It took me two hours to get to work & another two to get home, and *that* was with excellent bus fu.

There wasn’t bus service on my street for nine days, which meant if I wanted to go anywhere I had to walk downtown first. Luckily there’s good coffee only a block from my apartment.

Walking is easier, though, since I invested in a pair of Yaktrax, which were worth it for going to work that one day alone, and are basically my new best friend. I mean, I fall down all the time anyway, so snow & ice makes everything even more fun.

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On one hand, it is extremely aggravating that the transit system had a total freakin’ meltdown (I don’t know how else to describe cancelling 80% of routes & cutting service on what remains), but on the other, it was really pretty here last weekend, and you folks who get snow all the time probably don’t enjoy it nearly as much as we did.

Where I live, in the past week every single block has had skiing. Or sledding. Or snowboarding. Or all of the above. Because, oh yes, we have hills.

However, we no longer have trees.

We do maintain our sense of humor, however:

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I’d just like it to melt now, please. I have movies to see, and I don’t want to spend more time getting to them than I will at the theater! I started my best of 2008 this week, and though I don’t tend to post it until just before the Oscars, am I going to see anything better than Man on Wire or My Winnipeg? I doubt it.

Eventually, it would probably be good to go to work. No, really.