New Fridge

In late April the days get longer and the sun shines warmer, snow melts and the snow on the sides of mountains begins to slide. On Monday it was especially bright and warm in the White Pass and as Joy approached the summit she ran into an avalanche covering the road. There were already a few cars on both sides of 20 metre long "instant" snowdrift and a couple of people were busy shoveling a path through on the cliff side of the road where the snow was not so deep. Soon a narrow trench was made and the cars filed through, first those going inland - they had the shovels - and then those heading to the sea. Joy made it to the Customs station at the summit where they had closed the road because a larger avalanche had just piled down near Summit creek. Another long wait while the American and Canadian loaders made their way through the deep snow. No halibut burger for Joy.

On the way home we looked at the quickly melting remains of the snow drifts and wished away the remains. On our arrival home we discovered our fridge had died the night before with contents melting as quickly as the avalanches. Now we prayed fervently for our backyard snowbanks to stay cool as we dug a new fridge into their flank. How many days before the new compressor arrives? No one was sure. We eventually started packing snow into pails and putting it into the comatose fridge to keep it cool. This worked great until in my enthusiasm for packing in the snow I cracked the bottom of the pail. Unfortunately I didn't notice until the next morning when I found the fruit and meat drawers full of water. A brief moment of wondering was interrupted by the sluice of icy water down my pants as I opened the drawer. Back to the snow bank. Long may the spring last and our snow bank survive.