It is 16 degrees this morning – that’s quite a bit hotter than yesterday morning but still not bathing suit weather by any means. The trees in front have just a dusting of snow on them and in the light breeze, these small amounts of snow fall off the branches and it looks like it is raining diamonds in the early morning sunshine. The blanket of snow on the ground looks like someone scattered Swarovski crystals on it and they shine in the sun. Yes, we do have sunshine this morning – at least for a little while.
Because today is a holiday for state employees, we are totally off schedule – guess this is what they call “down time”.
In the paper this morning the headlines scream about a wreck on Rte. 3 at about 1.30pm that claimed the lives of 4 persons. We were on Rte. 3 at about that time on our way to our friends’ house to eat Christmas Dinner. A police car with sirens and lights passed us going very fast – almost too fast for the road conditions. He was heading in the direction of the wreck, but we did not know that at the time. All we know is that we had to get off the road into the snow and I worried that we would become a “slide-off” victim. Under the snow on the roads right now is ice and ice is very treacherous to drive on and due to the light snow that was falling, conditions were dangerous at best. This past week or so an 18month little girl was abducted from her home and still has not been found. A man jumped from the bridge into the icy Kennebec River but when they fished him out, it was too late to save him. On my mission in Japan, during the Christmas season in 1970, a person jumped into the path of the Kyuko (fast train that only stops at every 4th or 5th station and is a way of getting around faster than being on a train that stops at each station). The train station worker was picking up the pieces with very long chop sticks. The lady we visited on Friday told us she is at the verge of a divorce. Others have said that some family members are not welcomed at this family gathering or that gathering and the list of sadness goes on and on and on.
Right next to these tragedies, is the joy and wonderment of Christmas. Our grandchildren were really anxious to open their gifts from under the tree and their eyes were as sparkly as the lights on the tree. What is Christmas without the joy of little children? I am thankful to the engineers who devised the Skype program that allowed us to be online with Sara and the children while we opened the gifts from them to us.
One highlight of the season was at the Lessons and Carol’s service. The minister took a candle and lit it from a candle that represented the Christ child and the light that He has brought into the world. He turned off the lights of the church and came down and from the chancel with his lit candle; he lit a candle at the end of each pew and we lit our candles from the person next to us. We then all sang Silent Night and the moment was magical and awesome. Just as these small candles lit the whole room and chased away the dark, so does the light of Christ teachings light peoples’ lives and chases away the dark and erroneous teachings.
At 4am this morning, the snow plough came into the neighboring parking lot and made a real racket. I watched him yesterday as he plowed the lot and then took a shovel and spread the sand around the parking lot to help prevent people slipping on the ice and to give traction to the cars there. It seemed to be a very hard way to spread the sand, doing it by hand, but I guess you have to be a much larger operation to be able to have one of those machines at the back of your truck that operates the sand spreader like they have on the highway trucks.
Last week the Kennebec River was icy but it was flowing and wonderful. Today it is frozen over and just as wonderful. A flock of seagulls was resting on the surface yesterday and my hope is that they did not get frozen in place.
Well, reality has settled in. Laundry is waiting. Doing laundry is less stressful than going to Walmart the day after Christmas when all the “takebacks” are being processed. I really thought we would get a load of advertisements in today’s paper heralding even greater cuts in prices at an after Christmas Sale. For the past 34 years I have not been able to attend these events (didn’t have a babysitter for the kids) and this year we don’t even have David with us, and still cannot go to the event. Reason: Well, we have to keep our possessions to a minimum because if it does not fit into the car for the journey home, at the end of this mission, then it has to stay here.
Our assignment here was for 6months and we have already used 3 months. I am filled with sadness at that possibility. I love Maine and the people here. Even the snow and the cold give further insights into the extraordinary creation that God had given us. However, the wild turkey we saw wandering in a field along route 3, had better go into hiding or he will be the main guest at a New Years Eve party next weekend.
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