A sad silence on our freeway...

We live adjacent to Highway #1...with our farmland backing up against the freeway. We can see the traffic from our yard...a busy freeway with never a break (well...almost never)!

But yesterday afternoon all was quiet on the Trans-Canada Highway...

...there was not a car or truck to be seen.

Shortly after lunch, I noticed a huge black plume of smoke rising up from the highway just east of our place. It wasn't long before all the traffic was stopped.

A most horrific traffic accident, involving two semi-trucks and a car...claimed the lives of all four people involved. The two trucks exploded on impact and caused a fiery inferno...resulting in the closure of the highway for the rest of the afternoon. We felt the impact of that...as all the traffic needed to be re-routed to the closest parallel road.

Heidi and Maelyn were over and we went for our walk as planned...but wished we had chosen to walk the river trail instead. Dodging traffic along narrow roads without shoulders does not make for a relaxing time!

Our little country roads are not meant for buses...and semi-trucks...but yesterday we once again played host to the freeway traffic.

At the end of the day, I walked to the freeway and took a photo to the east...of our deserted freeway.

Far in the distance I could see emergency flashers...and the reason why the road remained quiet...

...my camera picked up the scene much better than my naked eyes.

Yesterday...in a moment's time...many people's lives were changed. My heart goes out to all those families who have lost loved ones on that stretch of highway once again....and to the emergency response teams who were on site.

It was a sad and silent highway last evening...and I'll be happy to see the flow of traffic once more.

ETA later in the day...

A reader from Palmer, Alaska sent me a link to the story of the Anchorage couple who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy...they had come to visit their son and meet their newborn grandson. Our prayers are with the families who suffered such a great loss.

To see our local paper's photo coverage of the accident...click here.

Drive safely...

Speechless...then and now!

The Year: 1971

The Date: March 12

The Location: Under the Rosedale Agassiz Bridge

The Characters: Elmer and Judy

The Props: 1969 Acadian, blue
8-track cassette, Everly Brothers...'Devoted to You'
And most importantly...

...the ring.

The Question: Will you marry me?

The Answer: I think I was speechless...but he knew the answer before he asked!

The Occasion: Our engagement.

And this morning when I awoke...I was speechless as well. Hmmm...I had no post prepared and wondered what I would blog about this morning. Then I noticed the date...and knew there was something very good about this day. Thirty-eight years ago...I found the right words as well. I said 'yes'...and I'm so glad I did.

There's something good about this day in 2009 as well...I just glanced out the window and saw this beautiful moon this morning...and so I'll share it with you.

Have a wonderful March 12th!

Of friends and treasures...

There's nothing quite like meeting a new friend to warm up a cold March day. We first met some time ago...a virtual meeting over in France. We were there visiting in Elizabeth's garden...and starting chatting...and discovered we lived somewhat in the same part of the world. And as it turned out...she travels to my part of the country on business on occasion. She happened to be in town yesterday...and so we met for lunch. Although it was the first face-to-face meeting...we weren't really strangers...and had no shortage of things to talk about.

After lunch we visited a few of my favorite shoppes in the old part of town. It's really hard to walk past Creekside...


...without taking a peek!

And just down the street...we visited the best little used bookstore around...The Bookman. What fun we had...and we left with a bag of treasures. She found several books that she had been searching for...and I left with one by her favorite Canadian author. What fun!

And before leaving town...she stopped by for a quick little visit at my place. Soon it was time for farewells...

...but the welcome mat is out and I'm hoping Pondside will be back one day. Friends are the best kind of treasures...and blogging has brought me some great new ones.

Have a great day!