To Mother’s House We Go

It’s a long drive to mom’s.

10 hours over mountains and through valleys

Over rivers and through woods.

Hundreds of miles in December

But, to mother’s house we went to Christmas.

It’s been an unusually dry winter-

Bad for our fire-hazardous, desert of a state-

But good for travel.

The first few hundred miles passed without incident.

The roads were clear.

Traffic was practically nonexistent-

But then came Vail Colorado.

Up, up we climbed in elevation.

The snow began to fall around 8,000ft.

Past the tall pines and ski resorts we drove-

Snow accumulating on the road

And blowing like a misting fog.

We slipped and slid on the slick road-

Boxed in by more cars on each side-

Too crowded to put on our chains.

Snow plows passed in droves-

Going the other direction.

We plowed through the slush ourselves-

Carefully rolling down, down the mountain side.

The skies clear as we drove toward Denver.

As we passed the city-

All traces of snow disappeared.

As we ended our 10 hour journey we realized-

Though it won’t be a white Christmas

But as we walked through the back door-

Greeted by two dogs, two brothers, two parents and a cat-

It’ll be a Christmas just like our childhood memories.