There is a saying attributed to the famed Yankees manager Yogi Berra, that goes, 鈥淚t鈥檚 deja-vu all over again.鈥�
I had that feeling when the winds were howling on Monday afternoon, and I had this memory of the wicked windstorm that pounded us back in January.
The day after this latter storm, which included blowing snow and icy roads, this storm wasn鈥檛 as bad wind-wise with the kinds of damages the one in January gave us, but that snow was something else, wasn鈥檛 it?
I looked out our window as the storm started up late in the afternoon, and seeing the snow being blown sideways told me all I needed to know what it was like outside.
Not to mention, driving a little bit on the highway to pick up my son from Walmart was a little scary when I saw how really shiny the ice was on the road surface.
The day of the storm happened to be the 30th birthday of our son James, and I was sent out into the near-zero visibility to pick up a pizza and a 鈥淏lizzard鈥� birthday cake from DQ (very appropriate, don鈥檛 you think?).
When James was born, his birthdate fell on Good Friday that year, and the weather was considerably calmer than it was this year. Of our four kids, he was the only one induced to be born, as Tracy鈥檚 doctor felt that as we lived just northeast of Edmonton at the time we could be in trouble if Tracy went into labour.
This didn鈥檛 make sense, because our three daughters were born in the same hospital, and none of them were induced but came naturally at the right time.
One thing I remember from his birth is the small cry he gave, as opposed to the full-throated cry babies often make upon their entry to the world.
I was there to cut his umbilical cord, as I was for all of our children, and it was different and special for each one of those experiences. I would recommend to anyone about to become a dad, especially for the first time.
Anyway, fast-forwarding to the present, it was quite a dramatic weather day for his milestone birthday of the big 3-0, and he did enjoy the bourbon barbecue chicken pizza and Oreo Blizzard ice cream cake.
