When I awoke this morning at 4 and took a look outside the kitchen window the great outdoors was barren of snow. I thought, "Wow~looks like it's going to miss us." 15 minutes later when I started the pot of coffee, I realized that it doesn't take long to get your car covered with an inch or two of snow out here in the west. And the snow kept right on coming.
I started out for school a little before six and was surely thankful when I made it to Olathe all in one proverbial "piece". I've been driving that 10-mile stretch of road for now nearly 7 months and I was sure I knew every last inch of it. Yet this morning, with the wind blowing snow at me like crazy and the early morning darkness, I found myself pretty dang disoriented. I had forgotten how hard it is to see the white line of the road when the entire road is white with snow. Luckily traffic wasn't as heavy as it usually is at that time of morning and the few crazy people that were out there with me weren't in all too fired up of a hurry. Slowly but surely, I drove on at about 30 mph the entire way. It was a relief to pull into the parking lot at school and know that I hadn't landed in a ditch upside down somewhere. God is so good to me.
It was an exciting school day, that's for certain. 18 kids who acted like they had never seen snow come down in their state before kept the room "buzzing". After 36 years of being an educator, I shouldn't have been surprised in the least :) But somehow we managed and actually got a little reading, writing and math taken care of before our early dismissal at 2:00. What we accomplished today has to last us until Friday because thankfully and most wisely, school has been dismissed for the day tomorrow.
You know, I have to say this. For as much as I've complained about being homesick for Kansas, hating the mountains, and not being able to see forever here in Colorado, I have actually come to begin to appreciate the richness of the geographical layout of the land here. I have learned so much about living in this part of the state. When Mike told me that living in Montrose was like living in the bottom of a fish bowl, I didn't understand what he meant. In fact, I thought that it sounded kind of crazy. But now I get it and I too live in that fish bowl. To get up and out of that "bowl" and go to anywhere else on earth, well you gotta do some serious climbing. Just pick your mountain range, be it the San Juans or the Black Canyon, the Uncompahgre or the Grand Mesa... they await you in all kinds of weather.
I have finally come to understand Colorado geographical vocabulary like mesa, canyon, ridge, plateau, the western slope, the eastern range and the high country. Shoot, I even now understand a new meteorological term called "inversion". I can breathe a little easier up here at the 6,000 feet plus altitude and don't get near as lost as I used to when I first came here. And me and Monarch Pass? Well we're finally getting used to each other at long last. I cross over it safely when I can and treat it with respect when I cannot. I will always be a Kansan but now I am a "Jayhawker" who lives next door. So far, so good.
Time to get ready to call it a night around here. The snow is still falling and the temperature is down to 14 degrees here. Time to let the faucets drip just a bit so we don't get to wake up to the wonderful prospect of frozen pipes in the morning. We are safe and well with bellies full from supper just now. Even though it is very cold outside, we are still warmer here inside than many other people in the world are right now. How often I forget just how blessed we are. My prayer has always been to have just enough and I'd say that God has answered that and THEN some in my life. Good night everyone out there. I remember you, my friends and family, and keep you close in my heart always. When we lay our head on the pillow tonight, we should give thanks because this has been the fourth day of December of the year 2013 and a great day to have been alive in.
the sky last night before the storm hit us~
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