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On Saturday, I went with the Dowlers to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. Their production features sets and costumes designed by Maurice Sendak, and a slight reworking of the second half to fill out the story (as summarized on the PNB site). This was my second time seeing The Nutcracker live; I first saw the Boston Ballet production when I was a kid, I think when I was 12 or so (Andrea may remember better). I remember the Boston production being a bit more spectacular, but the PNB's Sendak-designed sets were certainly very cool, and I preferred their version with its added emphasis on a coherent story.
At the end of the first act, the Prince and Clara leave Clara's house for the magical snow-laden woods, amidst "The Waltz of the Snowflakes". I found myself really longing for a good New England snowfall. Although I've hated the bitter cold at least since becoming an adult, and although I don't miss all the trouble that snow brings, from shoveling to driving to cold wetness, I do miss seeing the world blanketed in shining white snow, and I miss going to bed at night with the amber glow of the streetlights brightened by the swirling snow. It's been raining a lot here this month - yes, Seattle has a(n exaggerated) rainy reputation, but this is record-breaking rainfall - and it's really been wearing me, well pretty much everyone, down.
However, starting on Thanksgiving the weather took a colder turn, and yesterday I got my wish, it snowed. It only snowed a couple inches or so on the Eastside where I work (more heavily further east, I believe) and less than that in Seattle itself, but still there was visible snow cover that lasted into today as the temperature stayed pretty cold. There's even a chance of more snow showers tomorrow night (well, tonight, as it's Wednesday now), although it's supposed to start warming up a bit toward the weekend. So while most people were moaning and worrying about the snow and ice and how bad the driving was, I was delighted. It helped that while everyone else was spending a couple hours on the highway crawling for home Monday evening, I was finishing up stuff at work, so by the time I left most of the cars were off the highway and even staying under 50 mph due to icy spots it still took a mere 20 minutes to get back to Seattle.
Of course, now the novelty of the snow is wearing off and the nuisance of the cold is settling in, so I'm ready for things to warm up a bit, and hopefully dry up for a while as well. I can wait to see more snow until I've arrived at my parents' for Christmas.
At the end of the first act, the Prince and Clara leave Clara's house for the magical snow-laden woods, amidst "The Waltz of the Snowflakes". I found myself really longing for a good New England snowfall. Although I've hated the bitter cold at least since becoming an adult, and although I don't miss all the trouble that snow brings, from shoveling to driving to cold wetness, I do miss seeing the world blanketed in shining white snow, and I miss going to bed at night with the amber glow of the streetlights brightened by the swirling snow. It's been raining a lot here this month - yes, Seattle has a(n exaggerated) rainy reputation, but this is record-breaking rainfall - and it's really been wearing me, well pretty much everyone, down.
However, starting on Thanksgiving the weather took a colder turn, and yesterday I got my wish, it snowed. It only snowed a couple inches or so on the Eastside where I work (more heavily further east, I believe) and less than that in Seattle itself, but still there was visible snow cover that lasted into today as the temperature stayed pretty cold. There's even a chance of more snow showers tomorrow night (well, tonight, as it's Wednesday now), although it's supposed to start warming up a bit toward the weekend. So while most people were moaning and worrying about the snow and ice and how bad the driving was, I was delighted. It helped that while everyone else was spending a couple hours on the highway crawling for home Monday evening, I was finishing up stuff at work, so by the time I left most of the cars were off the highway and even staying under 50 mph due to icy spots it still took a mere 20 minutes to get back to Seattle.
Of course, now the novelty of the snow is wearing off and the nuisance of the cold is settling in, so I'm ready for things to warm up a bit, and hopefully dry up for a while as well. I can wait to see more snow until I've arrived at my parents' for Christmas.
