March Snow

The girls walked to school under a bright winter sun, quite the contrast from the near blizzard conditions yesterday.





The weather created unexpected chaos yesterday. Just as everyone anticipated the arrival of spring, a freak winter blast dumped at least a half a foot of snow over the region. Snow in March is not unusual for Spokane, but normally it turns immediately to slush.

The snow disrupted my world as well.

Shortly after 9:00 in the morning, I drove my daughter to a dentist appointment. We could not cross Division Street because the weather had reached nearly white out conditions and the highway was choked with cars. Instead we drove south on Division and saw the cause of all the congestion. Two cars collided on the hill and blocked at least one lane of traffic. Emergency vehicles were just arriving and re-directing the flow of cars. I remember saying to Whitney, “I hope no one was hurt.” Only later did we learn that a local woman was killed.

At least 135 other accidents were reported by the end of the day.

We drove the long way around and finally arrived at the dentist office where my daughter got several fillings. After more than an hour of drilling under the influence of Novocain and nitrous oxide, poor little Whitney staggered out of the office.

And then the car battery died and we found ourselves stranded without a phone. With no one to call for help, Whitney and I walked home through the snow. The dentist told us the “happy gas” would no longer create any effect, but she still seemed a little unstable as we trudged over the snow and ice.

When we got home, we borrowed jumper cables from a neighbor and succeeded in re-starting the car.

Then this morning, the battery died again, and I ended up walking to school with the girls. The sun blazed with deceptive clarity in the frozen sky, but I still keep hope that spring is just around the corner.