From the other side~

     From the other side of the big mountain, good morning dear family and friends on this first day of March, 2014.  It's still dark outside, the early morning hours and the sound of the wind blowing like crazy has been apparent for the past twenty minutes or so.  I'm used to the wind from all my years back in the Midwest but out here for some reason, it seems so different to me.  Even though the calendar says we have officially entered the month in which our beloved season of Spring returns, Winter is still in charge over much of the country.  It's been a long one, filled with one storm after another for so many of us.  It's during these times that we often feel as if the "dark" will never go away and the "light" will not return, yet take heart everyone.  It will happen.  Always has and always will.  Soon, very soon, Spring will be tapping on the shoulder of Winter with the message that it is time to "change partners" in the dance of the seasons. 
     I remember back when Mike and I returned to Kansas this past October for my 40th class reunion, how concerned I was about the weather and our ability to make it over Monarch Pass to get to the "other side".  Mike had told me early on that winter can and does arrive early around these parts.  I figured with my infamous "Miller's Bad Luck" (a second cousin to Murphy's Law, twice removed on my mother's side of the family) that the first good snow fall of the season would probably hit oh, I don't know....  say around October 10th or 11th?




The "invite" to the 40th reunion of the class of 1973, Haven High School.






 

 

 



     Sure enough, a couple of days before we were scheduled to go back home, the weather started to look like my worst fears were about to come true.  I had already scheduled a couple of days off from school but we'd be leaving on the day that the storm was forecast to hit.  I feared that if we didn't take out a day earlier we'd never make it to the other side.  I had put all of my hopes into getting back to Haven for that class reunion and I was depressed and sad beyond measure that I might not make it after all.  I'll never forget the moment that, with tears in my eyes, I explained to our principal, a good and kind man named Joe, what I was worried about.  I felt kind of foolish, letting it bother me so much but he understood and helped me to take care of my worry.  His answer was so simple and straight forward, "Just take off a day early Peggy."  When I thanked him for what he did to help me, I got the very same answer as I have received any time that I've been grateful for anyone's help here at school.  "It's just what we do here at Olathe Elementary."  We made the journey, no problems either coming or going and even though the snow did fall up on Monarch Pass it didn't deter us from getting to where we wanted to go.  My fears were unfounded, at least for this time.

    For some reason, it seems like the topic of weather has been on the minds of the "18" lately.  This week we have been doing practice tests for the upcoming Colorado state assessments and one of the stories that they have read is about "The Wizard of Oz".  I knew before reading it with them what kinds of questions they might have and true to my expectations, they asked them.  "Is there really a Dorothy, Mrs. Renfro?".  "Could that REALLY happen?  You know, make a house fly that far away?"  "Mrs. Renfro, have you ever been in a tornado?"  My answers?  "No, no and thank goodness, NO!"  It led to some very good conversation as we related the text that were reading to our own true life experiences.  I was able to tell them a little bit about what tornado season is like back home in Kansas.  I told them that we have tornado drills in Kansas just like we have fire drills here in Colorado and that in all my years of teaching, I've never experienced having to take kids to shelter because a tornado loomed in the distance.  It was interesting to hear their ideas about what happens in that kind of weather and kind of nice to be able to clear up some misconceptions they had about the dangers of living in "Tornado Alley".  One student, who used to live in California, shared her experiences of going through earthquake drills.  Before we knew it, the subject of avalanches, wildfires, and mud slides in our own state of Colorado were being brought up. Funny how one story about a little girl named Dorothy Gale opened up the opportunity to learn about the different kinds of weather.  That type of "unplanned learning" is the kind that I like the best.

     Well the sun has come up and the skies are dark and cloudy here along the Western Slopes.  The weather across this land of ours is a potpourri of everything that you can imagine....mudslides in California, avalanches in Montana, up to 3 feet of snow in the mountains around us here and the northeast scheduled for more of the fierce winter weather that has plagued it for the past several weeks now.  So where ever you might be this day dear ones, please take care and stay safe and warm.  March 20th, only 19 days away, marks Spring's return on the calendar.  Perhaps, if all goes well, it won't even take that long :)

My dear friend from the "land of long ago, and far, far away", Janis Collman Frederick.  We always have seen "eye to eye" with one another :)

A few of the members of the greatest class to ever graduate from Haven High School :)
I would have been at our class reunion, no matter if I had to snowshoe over Monarch Pass to get there.  Thank goodness I did not have to do that ~