The first cancellation of the year in HR today. The localized weather in the Gorge is just amazing. Dry as a bone in TD, kind of wet in Mosier, snowy in HR, and more snowy still in Odell. The 4WD Excursion is exactly the right vehicle for this, and studded all-seasons are exactly the right tires. Some midwestern folk who see lots of snow and ice may not understand the difference it makes out here. Lots of midwestern towns are basically on flat land, with straight roads that intersect at right angles. When you add lots of elevation changes (hills) and curves that go with a more rugged landscape, a nice little 4-6 inch snowfall can become a serious hazard. The other thing the landscape does out here is channel the weather, so at times (not where I was today), you can get localized ice of various kinds that just shuts down practically everything, sometimes including emergency services. You don’t even need a freak storm for this, just the right combination of factors. If we don’t cancel an event drawing people who travel through several different kinds of terrain, there’s a much higher probability that someone will get hurt than there would be in many midwestern locales. Then night falls early, and the temperature drops…
Now on to something just as practical, and necessary, but much less pleasant. Instead of killer weather: killer people. We need to be ready for either. To that end, every law-abiding, responsible American above age 18 should watch this somewhat disturbing video. The first part is the worst, so if you get through that, the rest will be easy. I post this so that you might begin to think about these things, if you haven’t yet. There are people who would just as soon kill you as look at you, and you wouldn’t be doing them any favors by failing to defend yourself. Then there’s your family…