If memory serves me, I felt like a lucky duck, thawing out
At home by about 4PM—though
That did not prove true for Will, who
Did not set foot in our apartment until the dark of night
Even so, my husband felt fortunate to arrive home in time to
Sleep in his own bed‚which had not proved true
For several of his friends, also
Fourth year med students, who'd not been able to
Leave the hospital (a forty minute drive away)
In time to dig their parked cars out of snow drifts, piled 'sky' high
By sunset, which comes early in January
The depth of the snow caused all modes of transportation to
Come to a stand still! so several of Will''s friends
Found themselves stuck at the hospital, sleeping
On cots, over the next four nights ...
Why? Because state-wide paralysis suggests the
Impossibility of anyone in the hospital hierarchy
Coming or going, Creating the necessity for
Docs, nurses and fourth year med students
To experience an exhausting four day shift with
Little time to sleep and no source of relief in
Sight for 96 hours, straight
Though No freeways had been taken on my way home
That had not been true of Will, and since he'd left the hospital
Hours after I'd left my suburban school behind (without
Taking so much as a backward glance to see
My source of employment swallowed up by drifts of swirling snow)
Will witnessed that which I'd listened to on the news:
Accidents, creating pile ups as vehicles, skating
Across streets, slick with ice, kissed other vehicles, which
Had not felt romantically inclined, causing tempers to flare
And as streets, freeways and lane markers had
Disappeared under layers of unplowed snow
Driving through the blizzard had become a free-for-all with
Bumper-to-bumper traffic jams backed up for miles, first
Here, then there, then everywhere, eventually offering
Motorists, throughout our ghost white city
Access to go nowhere, at all; in fact
Will witnessed sights that blew his mind during
His four and a half hour commute to get home
For example, I remember my husband looking
Half shocked-half amused while describing
The frustration of motorists, who'd
Actually abandoned their vehicles by
Plowed their cars into snow banks, which
Meant they stayed put over the next several days until
Snow plows, which proved in short supply, managed to dig
The city's major thoroughfares out from under God's avalanche ...
Then, as hours continued to pass and cars began to stall
The freeway saw more people stomping
Through snow drifts than those, whose engines had
Continued to huff and puff, like the little engine that could
And as my husband's internal engine felt determined to
Drive all the way home, thankfully
Will was, somehow, able to maneuver our white, stripped
Chevy II around one hurtle after another, like a slalom skier
Until he and his trusty steed skidded to a stop about
A block away from our apartment complex due to the fact that
Abandoned cars had been scattered across the roadway, because
By this time in the day
The relentless howling of fiercely blowing wind had
Created snow drifts of such mega proportions that Will's view of
Where to go from this point on proves non-existent, and
Finding no place to park, he, too, chooses to plow our Chevy
Into a snow bank that shows itself to rise as high as
My husband's eyes, suggesting that upon
Opening his door, standing up and looking at
Our white Chevy II, camouflaged within
Its igloo of snow, Will hopes to be able
To find it and dig it out, tomorrow, after
Abandoning it, tonight, because his
Tired mind has no clue that
Our Chevy II will remained buried in
It's igloo over the next four days and nights until
The city's inadequate army of snow plows
Had completed the Herculean task of
Clearing major thoroughfares, strewn with
Abandoned autos, trucks and buses, before
Turning its attention toward venturing into
Residential neighborhoods, such as ours, and so
When it came to pass that Will, The Human Icicle, who
Had managed to maneuver our car through ice, sleet and snow for
Close to five hours, finds himself stomping through
Huge piles of swirling snow drifts as he must
Make his way through that last stormy block before
Climbing three stories up to our apartment
I—listening, hopefully (no cell phones, back then) for
His key to turn in the lock of our front door—ran to
Embrace my husband, feeling giddy with relief—and
Like everyone else who'd barely made it home before gridlock had
Swept our entire corner of the world into the twilight zone
Will and I feel immensely fortunate to thaw out under a
Royal blue, velvet comforter, upon which his mother had had
Our first names engraved, while we take turns detailing
Our day for each other until he and then I drift off to sleep between
Crisp, clean sheets, tucked neatly around our king sized mattress, which
Covers most of our bedroom floor, and with
The warmth of good fortune flowing peacefully through our veins
Bride and groom sleep contentedly, feeling safe and sound, as do
Millions upon millions, who, populating our Midwestern state, entertain
No more clue of the surprising events, some happy, some not, that lay in wait to
Astound Will's senses and mine, over the next several days ...
Oh, I remember it well experiencing similar circumstances!
ReplyDeleteI believe certain people become kindred spirits when heartfelt experiences have been absorbed into their memories so deeply as to create a soulful sense of lasting kinship that outlasts lengthy separations, which prove due to closed mind sets in need of expansion or circumstantial situations in need of reconsideration ... For example, Tennis Lady and I found ourselves separated by a circumstantial situation for more than twenty years until circumstances reconnected us, giving us cause to acknowledge how much each other's company had been missed, and though we see each other, infrequently, there's no question of this fact: Both spirits feel exceptionally joyful whenever opportunity to bask in each other's presence, delights our hearts, again.
ReplyDelete