Hey ho, the wind and the snow (and the snow, it's snowing every day)

We've got a bit of snow, and we're supposed to prepare for more snow this weekend. I'm not worried about the snow, but I am a bit uneasy about the windstorms predicted. Two years ago, we stayed with some friends when the power went out, but temperatures weren't below freezing. This is one of the times in which I am really glad to be in the city. Yesterday, when I helped push someone's car up a hill (the driver had to turn around anyway, but at least he got moving), I remembered the times in my childhood when hunters' trucks would get stuck on our snowy, unpaved mountain road. The family would be snowbound, too, and we wouldn't know when we'd next be able to make the trip into town for groceries. Fortunately, we had a deep freezer plus canned produce.

All this is not to romanticize my childhood. Far from it! I longed for the day when I would see paved roads outside my house. This morning, those roads are covered with ice under snow. Even though many businesses had closed and I couldn't drive out for my Friday morning gig, I was prepared to walk up the hill with my guitar and felt board to our local library branch to perform this morning. Last night, I got a call from the children's librarian that the gig would have to be postponed. No matter. For a brief time, I was on the Seattle Public Library homepage, and I have the screen captures to prove it:



Metro bus service has been suspended in a number of areas. It's really frustrating for people who have to go to work. The article Metro still scrambling as riders grow frustrated, by Ruth Teichroeb, documents one driver whose approach I appreciated:

One Route 18 driver did his best to entertain passengers Friday morning, singing the children's song "The Wheels on the Bus" and referring to the storybook "The Little Engine that Could."

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can," the driver chanted, inching up a steep stretch of Mercer Street on Lower Queen Anne.

You may think, "Well, that could get old really quickly," but consider that that driver's first priority was to keep his focus on the road. I find it challenging to come up with something original when I'm not dealing with adverse weather conditions and my daughter is demanding, "Tell me a story!" on the way to school. I won't do it, but I will sing simple songs with lots of repetition.

Pajama Storytime at Island Books

I've got a storytime gig coming up on Thursday, July 12, at 7 pm. It'll be at Island Books in Mercer Island, Washington. The title of my storytime gig is Wise Fools and Wily Tricksters: Folktales and traditional songs to add adventure to your dreams. I have it on good authority that milk and cookies are part of the deal. This is good news for the goats (though they're not invited, as they are wont to nibble at the book displays).

Storytime Gig in Seattle

On Wednesday, June 20th, at 10:30 in the morning, I will present a preschool storytime at Bootyland, an independent alternative children's clothing and toy-store. This program is free and open to the public, so if you locals are interested in seeing a little bit of what I do, please come to the show.

I don't have a particular theme planned, but I'll definitely perform some of my "clothes horse" songs and stories as well as tell some of my perennial favorites like "Lazy Jack" and "Why the Tides Ebb and Flow."