“God, no!” Jade told me all about the massive avalanche which closed Keystone Canyon, just north of Valdez. Jade’s husband, Alaska State Trooper Zach Daniels, phoned her a few minutes before to let her know he was safe, but stuck on the Valdez side of the slide.
The road to get to Valdez goes over Thompson Pass, all two thousand eight hundred five feet of steep terrain. It's the snowiest place in Alaska. Often, over five hundred feet of snow a season chokes the pass. But it's closer by far to Valdez for those living on the Edgerton Highway—only about an hour’s drive—than to Anchorage.
I told her Jimmy and Kyle left in the morning to do a little Christmas shopping. Jade assured me there were no vehicles affected by the deluge of snow, rock, and ice which tumbled across the road.
I could almost breathe again. It seemed Katia, Jimmy Jr., and I would be alone for Christmas. It's not that I don't know how to deal with the homestead on my own, the problem was the one little word—alone.
With Valdez now cut off, there are only two ways in or out, by plane or boat. I knew all across the Copper River Basin, the Tundra Telegraph, the private gossip network, would go crazy with the news. I flipped on the radio. An emergency news short said it would take weeks before the Alaska Department of Transportation got all debris removed from the road.
Worse, when the slide plunged into the Lowe River, the Richardson Highway flooded. When the road got cleared of the tons of debris, there might be damage to the two lanes connecting Valdez to the rest of the Alaskan road system. It sounded like a nasty situation.
The slide trapped those sitting in Valdez if they went to town via the Richardson Highway as Jimmy did. Then the newsman mentioned the people of Valdez were putting together a pool on how long clearing the mess would take.
“Well, that’s Valdez for you!” I mumbled while turning the volume down. Both younger kids had stayed home with me, but they wouldn’t be happy to hear their daddy and older brother might not... “Who the hell am I kidding? The Department of Transportation won’t get it cleared out by tomorrow morning,” I mumbled.
I felt a distinct urge to break something. For the last thirteen years Jimmy and I have been together, we always spend Christmas at home. Lost in thought, it took Katia a minute to get my attention.
A jerk on my left arm pulled me out of the misery threatening to overtake me. Katia's little face wore a frown. "Momma? Are Daddy and Kyle okay?"
Stooping down, I wrapped one arm around her, and the other around Jim Jr. "They're okay, Honey. The only reason Daddy hasn't called yet is probably because the cell phones are all jammed."
Praying what I told them was the truth, I hugged both children tight. I needed to control myself. The kids needed me. Oh, shit! Thank goodness I didn't speak those words aloud. With both Jimmy and Kyle gone, taking care of the animals, and every other thing on the farm they usually did now fell on my shoulders.
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