Columbus Day Revisited

Columbus Day Revisited
I grew up in the small town of Bend, Oregon. The visitor brochures always call it "Sunny Central Oregon," and Bend usually lives up to its name. When I went to school, we never got a winter "snow day." If it snowed all night, the plows would have been down all the roads in time for the day to start. In fact, the sun usually came out to shimmer on the powdery crystals. In direct contrast, the spring and fall rain storms brought the place to a standstill. During these times, hot and cold weather converge over the Cascade Mountains and torrential rain, thunder and lightning deluge the area. Several of the main streets travel through underpasses that are flooded within hours by the downpour. Not long ago, I was rummaging through a box of junk and came upon two little black tin candlestick holders. They aren't anything really special, and can probably be gotten at any hardware store for a buck or two. To me, they will always remind me of the event that befell my family on Columbus Day, 1962. It started out as a stormy day and by the end of the weekend, we knew it as the "Storm of the Century!"

As Mom delivered me to kindergarten, a stiff breeze blew in with grey clouds the size of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria scudding across the sky. When she picked me up at noon the clouds turned the day as dark as night and it all looked very ominous. The wind strengthened and then the rains came down. Lightning snapped trees, thunder scared me to pieces, and whole trees were uprooted by the gale force winds. As trees came down, they took power lines with them. The midday gloom and darkness were now taken over by the pitch black of nighttime without benefit of electricity.

At the peak of the storm, sustained winds measured 100 miles per hour. Along with trees being uprooted, house roofs were blown down the street. This wasn't a comforting thought for a family living in a trailer built in 1959. My mom put candles in those little black holders and the flames lit up our entire living room. In order to conserve on heat and light, my brother and I huddled under our blankets in the living room. The first night dragged on with the storm raging outside and our anxiety raging within.

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