A Black and White Christmas. Whatever Happened to a Good Old Fashioned Blue Christmas?

So we made it through another one. A little shaken, but not stirred. It has often been said that Christmas comes and goes like a winter storm, and that was more than appropriate this year. I don't recall ever seeing this much snow in Vancouver. I have a feeling that Al Gore might have to go back to the drawing board. In the meantime, I will be praying for that almighty power El Nino.

I find myself unable to remember when the snow came, it's one of those things that grows irritating enough to become a part of everyday life. I do know that Christmas Eve was one of the worst situations I have ever driven in. The video's I posted the other day don't do any justice to the scenario that was at hand. As I mentioned, Danny had been talked into abandoning his car so I at least had someone to ride shotgun with me.



The plan was to make a beeline for the highway, a snowbound drivers sanctuary. A place where you would imagine your journey would be laid out like two giant piano keys to your destination. Didn't work out that way. It was a struggle enough to get out of the drive. These times always call for horsepower, and thankfully my little mule pulled through like a Clydesdale. We were stop and go everywhere we went. A couple of times we literally had to make a run to crest a hill. When we finally got to the highway, I felt that instant pit in my stomach. It was like finding a Pharaoh's tomb to find it already striped of its treasure. The highway had as much snow as all the other streets, and it was approaching a white out. The eastbound was essentially closed, fortunately we were heading west to the promised land. The promise of friends and some Christmas cheer that is.

We were in high five mode by the time we made the Lonsdale exit ramp, breaking the rule of celebrating before you reach your destination. It was at that point of course that the rear end of the car broke loose sending us sideways towards the ramp barrier. I whipped up my parking brake like a gunslinger, I had that split second hope that I had drawn fast enough. The car swung around and corrected. It was one of those moments where you think your ride is a living, breathing creature. I few pats on the dash and a "atta girl", and we were on our way up the hill.


The hill was horrible, one lane was essentially closed to abandoned vehicles. I knew that if we even had to slow we were done. I tackled it like an uphill slalom. We soon hit the destination, the car gave what seemed to be a dying gasp as I spun it into it's stable.

I being the genius I am decided to wear a pair of $300 Cole Haan's instead of a pair of runners or boots that I don't even own. So Danny had to wait patiently as I did a routine that was a cross between Fred Astaire and Don Knotts across the parking lot.




Pretty quiet once we got in which didn't surprise me. Heck, who would be dumb enough but me to go there in the first place? Before long they started filing in. Those with cancelled flights, those who were supposed to be somewhere but couldn't drive. It was still only a fraction of those that would normally be there. I'm not one to suffer alone so I told Steph to get up there. I had assumed she would have caught a cab or a bus, but no, she slogged through it herself. She had boots though!!

Brad and Ty showed up. The had gone to shovel Ty's father-in-law's roof only to find the 90 year old up there himself. Only a 90 year old would have the work ethic to do that. You could offer a 20 year old 50 bucks to do it and he would say no. That is where the world is at.

And so the night went on. We left early of course. I had a date with a steak and "It's a Wonderful Life." I offered to drive Steph home since I dragged her up there. She asked if the car was going to be able to make it. I said as long as we make it the first 2 feet we'll be fine. We made it a foot. The car went nose first down into the snowbank. Thankfully there were still some people inside, and I was able to get "6 good men" to give us a push.

I finally got home and went to start cooking. I had already said goodbye to the steaks dancing in my head due to time restraints, and enlisted the help of Dr. Oetker instead. The second I pulled the pizza from the box there was a loud buzz, and a flicker of the lights seemingly just given me enough of a heads up to form the right expletives in my mind before the power went out a moment later. Cheese, lettuce, and onion sandwich it was. With luck there were a couple people I hadn't seen to delivery their gifts. One was candles, the other, a book. I sought the refuge of my room and had a very cozy if not short night. The power came on about an hour later, but I was already sound asleep waiting for Santa to arrive.

The morning soon came, as did the realization that I was now beyond a doubt snowed in. Another 6-8 inches had fallen overnight. We didn't have it so bad in the end. Turns out some people were without power for more than 12 hours. I surveyed the sparseness of the tree and waited for the boys to awaken. I did open my gift from Miley. It was a cool shirt from a bar in Park City where she lives. It seems funny, but that was all I really wanted. For some reason it just makes me feel closer to her. She was pretty much in the same spot as me, snowed in. She actually took a tractor to Christmas dinner. I don't know how much fun it was at the time, but I'm sure it will be a great memory in the future. It's funny how that works.

The boys got up and we did our quick exchange. I scored a set of noise cancelling headphones from Roman. You can never beat the gift of music, never. But as soon as they were there, they were gone. Danny to his Mom's, Roman either driving him, downstairs wrapping, or at Janine's mom's. It's a different feeling being alone on Christmas. It's as if the world is throwing a party and you are the only one who wasn't invited. Admittedly it was by my design, and there are never any regrets. But the loneliness was so thick it almost took on a liquid form. I always feel like I'm supposed to be somewhere else at Christmas.

It was time to queue up the flicks. First up, a DVD my mother gave me of our old family movies. Nothing cheers you up like watching the cowboy outfit your Aunt and Uncle give you making your pants fall down in front of your family because your holster is too heavy. Next up, Big Fish. A classic, and a film I hold quite dear. Once that was finished it was time to get to cooking. I still did the full dinner with all the trimmings. Almost like making a place setting for some unexpected guess. I had dinner planned dead on for 8 o'clock. Another one of my favorites was on, The Sting. A fitting tribute to the passing of Paul Newman. Roman arrived home for dinner, and we sat to feast. Danny arrived at pretty much the same time and we all got to enjoy the movie together, and I guess that's what Christmas is all about. Sharing an experience. Even though the movie is 35 years years old, neither had seen it through before and both enjoyed it to the fullest. Throw in some apple pie and ice cream and a night was made.

Boxing Day brought the snow back and pretty much matched the conditions of Christmas Eve. And now just as the magic of Christmas is gone, so too the snow disappears. It's as if we have been living in some elaborate Hollywood set the last few days. And just as quickly as it arrived, I see it as it leaves. One drip at a time from the eaves above my window.

Someone once said "Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree, in a childs eye they are all 30 feet tall." I think that represents a lot about Christmas to all of us. It is magic, and no matter how stressed, or lonely, or busy we are leading up to it, it still wraps us like a blanket when it arrives.