Every Holiday season, there is a community dinner and Holiday program at the Chugwater Community Center. This year, my singing group performed, as well as a wonderful family group who sang beautiful harmonies. Just before our group performed, song sheets were handed out for everybody to participate in a holiday sing-along...
There was a terrible blizzard that night and I thought nobody would show up. But the hearty local people are used to such things, and many traveled from long distances over un-plowed rural roads to attend because that annual event had become so very special to them. The crowd nearly filled the capacity of the building! Thankfully, we live less than three blocks away... but even that short distance was a challenge for me to drive with my little car because of the heavy, wet, deep snow quickly accumulating on those streets. Afterward, I was SO glad we went. It was a fantastic evening of delicious food, wonderful people, and lots of fun! As usual, most of that snow melted away the following week.
Interesting Local Sights
I've often passed herds of antelope along the roads around here, but so far I haven't been able to snap any pictures of them. However, I did capture these interesting sights not far from our town...
Outhouse for Sale? Gee, I wonder how much they're asking!
These last two pictures where snapped quickly while I was driving. I hope to get better compositions of them some day when I can get out of my car to take pictures. I'll just have to watch out for rattle snakes!!
Dangerous Conditions!
Last week I had to drive my father to multiple doctors' appointments at the VA hospital in Cheyenne, WY (a 2-hour round trip in good weather). Dad has certain health issues which required immediate attention, and it had been very difficult to get those appointments. So that morning when I saw that the wind chill readings were 35 below zero with high winds and blowing snow, I still felt that I could not cancel. I made that judgment call because the weather reports were for sunny skies, and there were no road closings. I thought that since it had stopped snowing, I could manage just fine if I was very careful.
Being from the Midwest, I was used to winter driving... and I've driven through some horrendous conditions many times in the past. I had my cell phone, a full tank of gas, sleeping bags & blanket in the car, flares, shovel, battery chargers (2 different kinds), a "HELP--SEND POLICE" sign, food, & water. So we started out on our journey.
After we were under way, I started to doubt my decision to go. The snowstorms of the previous three days had produced a lot of powdery snow build-up. That--combined with the brutal winds whipping across the plains--created blinding ground blizzards and icy patches which made for very scary driving conditions on those long, exposed highways! Once you're out there, you can't just turn around because of the long distances between off-ramps. I realized that Wyoming driving is totally different than anything I've ever experienced in the past!!
Amazingly, the blowing snow had an ethereal beauty which had a calming effect on me. It looked like horizontal bands of thick, swirling mist across the landscape and road. The snow on the hills, bluffs, and plains... and blowing snow/mist glowed with multiple shades of pastel pinks, peach, blues, purples from the reflections of the clouds of those colors... incredibly gorgeous... magical-looking! It looked like an enchanted landscape. I've never seen anything like it! If I hadn't been white-knuckling the steering wheel to hold my car on the road, I would have been tempted to take a picture!
Anyway, we had a very productive day at the VA hospital, and we made it home--exhausted but safe--just as the sun was setting. That evening my sister-in-law (a Wyoming Highway Patrol dispatcher) admonished me that venturing out in those conditions can be MUCH more deadly here in Wyoming than in other areas where I've lived. If you run into trouble on the roads here and phone for help, it could take HOURS for help to arrive!! She said that the ground blizzards around here sometimes cause multi-car pile-ups with fatalities because some drivers often exceed the already high speed limit of 75 MPH, even in dangerous conditions (I saw that)! She told me that if you slide off the road on a lonely stretch, you can die in minutes out there... and nobody would find you. YIKES! Overturned trucks are not an unusual sight on the highways around here because of the fierce winds. If I had known how dangerous the conditions really would turn out to be, I would have canceled those appointments!! I felt terrible that my decision to go out in those conditions could have put our lives in danger! Thinking about that kept me from sleeping that night... and also, the winds were howling and roaring so loudly that it sounded like thunder!
We're gradually learning to how to survive out here, and we do love living here. Our Guardian Angels have kept us safe so far, and hopefully in the future we won't be putting them through any overtime duty!
