Powell's City of Books

I mentioned recently that many children in Portland haven't seen snowflakes. Well, that's no longer true. We're having our second snow storm in two weeks, and it's only early December! I worked on a photo project for a local activist till 2 a.m. last night, finished it and put the last touches on two Blurb photo books this morning, wrapped a few gifts, went to lunch with Alex, then spent the afternoon at Powell's doing holiday shopping. 

Choosing books for people I love gives me great pleasure, and it was good to stop worrying about the state of the world for a little while. When I was ready to leave, I looked out the store window to see the city had turned white, and as I fished out my camera, this young man with his sack of books stopped in the middle of the street to take a picture of Powell's in the snow. 

Now I'm planning to curl up in bed with one of the books I bought for someone else and read myself to sleep, listening to an unfamiliar silence as the streets ice over. I hope the six thousand or more unhoused people in Portland have found shelter somewhere for this bitterly cold night.