I saw the first flakes starting to fall Thursday, February 6, around 11:30AM–a short time before I was supposed to drive to Salem. The storm was coming in from the south; Albany was already covered in inches; I5 in a massive pile-up. “It’s pure chaos,” Oregon State Police Lt. Steve Mitchell said as troopers struggled to reach trucks and cars that crashed along the freeway. “For all intents and purposes, it’s shut down between Albany and Salem.” I canceled my meetings for that afternoon and stayed home. The…