As I walked to catch a bus yesterday, I noticed what looked like snowflakes in the air. Just a few tiny flakes, on an afternoon that was chilly for Seattle, but too warm for snow. When I reached the corner, there were more flakes… and they seemed to be coming from one direction. I looked across the intersection, and saw snowflakes billowing from the second-story windows of a fancy hotel. The hotel had snowblowers!
Today, I was at the same intersection around lunchtime. The machine-made flakes whirled out through the windows beneath a perfectly blue Seattle sky; those that missed the lunch crowd’s coats melted on impact with the sidewalk. While some passersby seemed not to notice, I heard several comment, and look up, and laugh.
It’s hard to photograph manmade snowflakes against a blue sky! Some of the flakes landed in the hotel’s sparkly outdoor decorations…