Sunday, October 18, 2009

This is October?

Frozen Pond in October

On Friday afternoon, one of the young men in my Literature class looked out the window of our classroom and sighed, "I think we might have a brown winter."

I sighed as well and had to admit that I'd been having similar thoughts. Then we comforted each other by agreeing that certainly we'd get more snow soon, but with three snow falls come and gone, it didn't look hopeful.

The river and lake have frozen over and ice fishing has commenced, but temperatures in the mid-thirties have stolen our snow at least three times since September. One morning last week, the ground was covered with a thick layer of very slippery ice, but no snow.

Then today it snowed again, a nice thick layer, and everything looks clean and white, at least for the moment.




Many of you have asked for more information about Wanda and her progress. I haven't asked her many questions because I know she's fielded quite a few since her return, but I don't think she'd mind me giving a short update.

On the day she was rescued, Wanda was first taken to our clinic here in the village and then boarded a flight to Barrow. The hospital there checked her out and treated her feet which were suffering from 1st/2nd degree frostbite. A few days ago, she was able to return home where she is resting and healing.

At least I hope she's resting!

She didn't require surgery on her feet, but it is still painful for her to walk. Also, her fingertips are numb. Both of these are conditions that she should be able to overcome. It's just going to take some time.

I do want to thank all of you who have thought good thoughts or said prayers for her. I know she appreciates it, as do I.


And, again, I can't say enough to commend our search and rescue volunteers. They worked round the clock for five days and nights. They are a credit to this village!

7 comments:

Jackie said...

We've had similar weather here - it's so strange for it to be so cold and frosty, yet we're still dealing with the dusty roads that are usually characteristic of summer! We need snow - cuts down on sweeping :)

Glad to here Wanda is recovering.

Jackie said...

Oops, that's "hear" in the last comment.

Bryan said...

:-) I saw Snow!! Coming back from Nashville yesterday, several of the mountain peaks were covered. We'll send it your way!

Kimberlee said...

Jackie...
Yes! I can't wait for the mud and dust to be frozen and gone! We're getting some nice snow today. I really hope it stays put!


Bryan...
Congratulations! The snow wouldn't come to you, so you went to the snow! Smart thinking. :) Did you carry the some back to your house as well?

Bryan said...

No, the snow fell into one of those "Mountaintop experience" catagories this time. Maybe more trips to the mountains are in order!

Dog Hair in my Coffee said...

Thanks for the update. I have been thinking about her ever since you first wrote, and wondering how she is.
We had a two day snowfall a week and a half ago, very heavy and very early for western NY, and I must say, I was the ONLY one excited about it, except for my kids at school. THEY were thrilled. So thrilled that it seemed to draw ALL their attention, and I had to remind them that they have actually seen snow before, like EVERY year of their lives. For many months! Silly kids. But I do love snow! Enjoy.

Kimberlee said...

Coffeedog,

I think there is just something special about snow. It doesn't matter how common it is or how recently the last snow fell, it still causes excitement. I can't explain it either, but I can certainly attest to it! It sounds like you might have deeper snow than we do at this point!