“Yes” -a poem by William Stafford:
“It could happen anytime, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
It could you know. That’s why I wake
and look out- no guarantees
in this life.
But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.”
Dec 14, Thursday. 11 am.(I procrastinated…)36 degrees, rain, snow, south wind to 40mph. Storm Warning. High tide. Horrible weather. Even for us.
This morning I woke up and hoped the wrestling team made it out, only to learn the border was still closed. It was yesterday too, and they waited all day at 33-Mile Roadhouse, hoping. It looks like they can’t drive to Anchorage for the state championship meet. Nothing is flying either, except maybe a bird. But even the crows don’t seem to be soaring far from shore. I sure wouldn’t. There’s no ferry.
“Do you think they can get to Juneau on time to catch a jet?” I asked Chip.
“The Coast Guard isn’t going to send a helicopter for them,” he said.
As I walked I thought: why not? That would be really something, wouldn’t it? A great story.
But when I returned, so wet that there was water up my nose, I heard a better one.
Our neighbor Brent ( who is also a Crowe, by the way) has a fish packer. He takes fish from the smaller boats and delivers them to processors. The Pavlof is big, and Brent is big-hearted and capable. Very. He ran the team down to Juneau last night in this weather. He couldn’t carry the parents, the Pavlof is not that big, but the team arrived at the airport at 7:30 this morning. What a trip that must have been.
I’m glad I didn’t know about it before I went to bed or I wouldn’t have slept.
Now they are waiting for the weather to improve as the Alaska Airlines flights are on weather hold.
Still, aren’t we lucky? Aren’t they? They are close now. Just one flight away. What a story they will have to tell every December of their lives.
Something good can happen anytime. That’s important to remember, isn’t it?
