Christmas Day, 2009

Merry Christmas!

There's more to this day than snow, mistletoe, and "Jingle Bell Rock" More in:

• "Christmas? Yeah, it's a Pretty Big Deal"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (December 24, 2009)

There's quite a bit of snow, though. And more coming down.

We've heard from #2 daughter and her husband. He says my wife is his favorite mother-in-law. She insisted that those two get a snowmobile.

They live in the Red River Valley of the North, on the North Dakota side. Some towns are closed down up there, riding out the storm.

The church in town, near their home, wasn't one of the ones that had canceled Christmas Eve Mass - and they made it in, thanks to the snowmobile. They went into the ditch a few times, I understand, and had to get off and walk the snowmobile at least once - but apart from that, the trip was uneventful.

Where roads were parallel with the wind, the going was smooth. Roads at right angles to the wind were drifted in. I'm told that riding over those was a bit like racing over a very choppy lake.

Nothing that exciting happened here. We live in town, so the plow crew has been by - several times - keeping the streets open. My son's cleared the driveway and, I think, sidewalk. At the rate the snow's coming, a plow will probably be by at least once more. Which will put another rampart at the end of the driveway.

Oh, well.