Spokane WA

December 18, 2008

The Three Christmas Gatherings were planned with care, in hopes that all the family members would be able to get there. However, beginning with bone-numbing cold, and continuing for a month with the heaviest snows in recorded measurements, we got four feet of snow in the next three weeks. Locations around the country got lows and snows that seldom show up in those balmy latitudes, but the Northwest got buried. Snow plows worked round the clock, 7 days 24 hours for nearly two weeks to try to keep traffic and businesses going during the "just before Christmas" shopping climax. Many businesses were unable to meet their goals not because of lack of money, but because the shoppers couldn't get out of their driveways, and if they did they couldn't make it down the half-block of side street to the plowed main thorofares. IF they did make it that far, more often than not the plows had closed the intersections by shoving up great berms across the side streets when they plowed the main drags and the bus routes. For almost a week, only 4 of the city's bus routes were running, and nobody could get to those because the pick-ups in their neighborhoods were not available. People missed work, deliveries to stores were sporadic at best, half the local grocery stores ran out of the most popular varieties of bread and milk, egg nog was very hard to get even though it was egg nog season. Some people lost power, although our neighborhood was spared that calamity. However, two out of the three family gatherings planned were necessarily postponed. The parent-sibling event was postponed, back on again, then postponed for another week. The in-law gathering was much smaller (the host brother and his family, another brother, and my husband and me) and it was here in town on roads that were plowed, so we managed to have that celebration as planned. The children-grandchildren gathering was postponed, postponed again, rescheduled for later that evening, then re-postponed and scheduled for a week later. It was finally held in a pocket of calm between flurries, and all were able to attend that one, albeit not for as long a visit as was intended. The brothers who were unable to make it to the first family gathering even after all the postponing finally got here, waiting for the passes to clear and the forecast to give them some hope of being able to return in the same week, but not until the weekend of January 17th. They would have been able to make it the week before, except that once it stopped snowing, the rising temperatures caused massive avalanches and mudslides, closing the passes more effectively than the snowfall did. Well, we have the pictures. Berms twice as high as the car parked beside them. Garbage cans with as much snow on top as the height of the can. Roofs caving in all over town, from huge department stores to little espresso shacks. Schools, garages, restaurants of all descriptions had collapses or major leakages in infrastructure, and were closed for the duration. One potentially disappointing result of the weather was that the electrical grid where the Cathedral is located was disabled on Christmas Eve. We were concerned that there would be no light, and more importantly, no heat, to enable them to hold the scheduled Midnight Mass. However, about 11pm we made our precarious way through slippery, blocked, and treacherous roads to the Cathedral, and tried to park along the sides of the streets where at least half of the lanes were blocked by the massive accumulations of plowed snow. We managed to get into a spot, but when I shifted my weight to open the passenger door, we slid sideways into the berm. Meaning that I had to find a way to crawl to the driver's side to get out, and for a fat lady, that is no easy task. However, we climbed the steps and entered the Cathedral, greeted by cooling air and impressive darkness. After finding the second set of doors, beyond the foyer, a gorgeous sight to behold was the entire interior lit by nothing but candles. Nothing could have been more beautiful, more mysterious, more worship-inspiring. Due to the weather the crowd was much diminished, the singers and players of instruments also fewer, and the atmosphere was that of a cozy local congregation but set in the lavish and lovely environs of one of the most beautiful Cathedrals in the state. I cherish this memory of Christmas 2008 over all the others, for the encouragement and hope that it gave in the midst of many horrible and frightening events of the last year, including the election. May the prayers we sent heavenward during that service be heard and answered quickly, for the salvation of souls, and the salvation of our country and our faith.