Happy holidays. Under threat of site boycott, I’m forced to document a string of weather that’s nearly unprecedented in Western Washington. Here I muster my good humor, so in brief: Swings in Weather. Zing!

Seattle was paralyzed for nearly a week. Several feet of snow collecting—and staying put—in outlying areas. After initial hesitancy, Mayor Greg Nickels has given in to the pressure to lightly season Seattle streets.

For myself, one of the highlights of the snowy deluge was tailgating and attending Mike Holmgren’s swan songy victory over the Jets at Qwest Field. The snow was falling the Hawks were winning and the snowballs were flying—by the end of the game this was all just too much for Jets Defensive End Shaun Ellis.

This proved the costliest of all Seattle snowfall, as that particular cubic foot ended up being priced at a cool $10,000. That could buy a lot of salt.

Happy New Year!