Windy Days...

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The day before Thanksgiving dawned full of whipping rain and ghoulish wind. She decided that hanging the little sparkling white Christmas lights on the balcony might not happen that morning or evening after all. And she would be right, for the rain turned to snow at about 9:30 that morning, while she sorted through dilemmas at the office. Some roads closed later on, and electricity went out in Chesterfield Valley for a spell.

Dad soon dropped by at four to take her home, and they discussed his work on the way back. Collette enjoyed hearing about Dad’s work and how things went on downtown. They were always very proud of him – it seemed everywhere he contracted, the companies begged to keep him on, he was so very good and thorough at what he did.

Finally, she could have an evening of quiet, she thought to herself. The afternoon had been embedded with tricky phone calls, paperwork, and deep thinking.

However, for dinner there would be drop biscuits and tomato soup with strips of Colby Jack cheese, and that was better. The Soviet Union would wait until another day. Friday she would crack the text again, but it was practically a holiday, the eve of it anyway, and she was ready to take a break.

The walk to the mailbox that afternoon, while short, had been blustery and full of slush and puddles. Glowing orange and cinnabar leaves from the tree across the street had woven themselves on the ground with the wet snow, creating a magnificent ice-like tapestry on the pavement, somewhat of a natural stained glass window. She wondered how many leaves would hang to their branches over the night. The temperatures would drop to freezing before morning.