Well, it’s the three year anniversary of my last trip into Portland during a freezing rain storm. You can read about my previous trip here, but today I’m flying into PDX and it looks like we won’t have a repeat of my previous experience: the temperature is above freezing, and I’m coming in during the morning, rather than the afternoon. I don’t mind driving in snow, it’s the insidious black ice that Portland gets that really scares the crap out of me. There is only one mistake that you can make in such conditions: getting in a car at all. Witness the chaos (from a previous storm):

I’m not anticipating any such excitement on this trip, but once again I’ve pressed my friend Jeff into picking me up at the airport, and then I’ll go pick up a rental when I’m closer to home.

It’s an odd Christmas for me. It’ll be nice to visit Mom and my brother, but I already miss Carmen, and it will be the first Christmas that we’ll have without seeing our son. Still, a few days, and I’ll be back cooking and cleaning and otherwise making myself useful for the holiday. Haven’t got my Christmas menu planned out yet, but I’ll figure out something.