One day about 15 years ago Miss Melanie and I were roomates in this big 'ol run down house. During the winter that year, must have been February, it snowed. It started to snow and it didnt stop for 3 days. In Portland that's a long time for snow. It also hung around for about two weeks after this. Miss Melanie was working for this little chicken place in the mall and I being bored and an overly worrisome teen when it pertained to Miss Melanie decided to take the bus with her to work and I would play at the mall while she worked her shift and then we would head back home together. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get the 2 miles to the mall, usually a 10 minute bus ride.
And again on the way back same thing, very elongated bus ride that should have only taken a fraction of the time it did take. Now, from the bus stop to our house is a 10 block walk (through the snow) and at the end of said jaunt was a large park between us and the house making up the last 3 blocks of our walk. We, Melanie and I, get to that park and proceed to cross it to get home, shivering and lips blue, noses bright red, lungs burning from so much inhaled cold air, eyelashes begining to form small ice crystals. On the far side of the park is a man and his wife and their two small children and he is having a gas chasing them all around and throwing snow balls at them while they squeal with glee. Just as Melanie and I notice this and comment on how sweet they all look he turns...he spots US...and then the strangest thing, he starts to roar...in our direction. I look at her she looks at me, we start to giggle. THEN he raises his hands over his head flailing his arms about, he starts to roar even louder, he starts towards us, slow at first then faster, then he's running at full speed with a snow ball in each hand and roaring, LOUD. We still teenagers after all scream at the top of our lungs and start running at full speed toward the house. He is still in pursuit when the two of us collapse not two feet from the door laughing till we cant breath. As I sit up to catch my breath I realize, The Abominable snow man is laughing too. Holding his guts and rolling around in the snow laughing. Aparantly we had been made honorary Abominable snow kids so we didnt feel all left out and stuff.
