Truly Alaskan

We had a warm October. I was even beginning to think that Halloween would be warm--not white--this year. But the day before Halloween, the snow started dumping. And it didn't let up for a long time. We got hit with four big storms in a row, and as of November 21, our snow pack was 28 inches. Now the snow has stopped, but the temps have dropped and it's freezing. Like constantly at zero or below. I have a feeling that we're in for a long, cold winter.

On one particular day, we took Daddy to work, and I packed our snow gear in the car, planning to shovel the driveway before we parked the car on it again. I got David in his snow gear, and placed him at the top of the driveway with a shovel while I tied up my boots and pulled on my mittens. The car was parked across the street, so I went back to the opened rear driver's side door, to prop my foot on the frame and tie my boots up. Just as I was about to finish, I hear "Come here, little guy." I was startled. I didn't know anyone was outside with me--so I looked up, expecting to see someone walking their dog.

What I saw shocked me. It was a moose. A big bull moose. My neighbor later told me that he walked outside, and saw the moose heading straight for David. He was trying to get to David before the moose did (the moose wasn't charging, it was just looking at David and walking towards him) which is why he said "Come here, little guy." That's when I turned around. It was within 5 feet of me when I saw it, and I screamed (the bull was slowly turning around after he heard my neighbor's voice, and his hind quarters were towards me when I saw it). My scream sent it trotting back down the street, where he came from.

How was it possible for a 1500 pound animal to be in my personal space, and I didn't even know it? How was he able to head towards my little boy, and I was clueless? I always look up and down the street for the neighborhood moose when I'm outside, but this guy came out of nowhere. I feel grateful that Heavenly Father was watching out for David and that my neighbor walked outside at just the moment he needed to scare the moose off of our driveway. I still shiver to think that a moose was between me and my baby. It would have been bull moose against mama bear if I hadn't had my neighbor's help.

If you ask David about it, he'll tell you that he saw a moose that was scary to Mommy, David, and the neighbor. He'll tell you it was a big one, too.

Oh, after I got the driveway cleared off, my nerves calmed down, and I was plenty cold, I managed to get the car stuck in a snow bank. I dug around the tires as well as I could, until finally another driver stopped to help push me out after about 35 minutes of spinning and digging. By the time I went inside, I was ready to stay in and enjoy the snowfall from the window view.