New Friends for Christmas

I was picking my son up from the last hockey practice before Christmas arrived in a couple of days. It was about thirty degrees below freezing and the highway was slippery due to new-fallen snow. The forty-five-minute drive home from town always took a bit longer because of the winter driving conditions, Although, it was a beautiful evening with a crescent moon and a small Aurora display among the twinkling stars overhead.

Just the other side of the bridge spanning the frozen Takhini river we saw the glow of taillights in the snowbank on the right side of the highway. They had slipped on the icy bridge deck and landed in the snow berm. As I pulled over to the side of the road, I saw a shadowy figure trudging through the snow around the car.

“Everybody okay?” I yelled to him as I zipped up my parka while walking towards the scene.

“Yeah, we’re all good,” was the anguished reply.

Examining the snow berm holding the green Honda in place, I could see that it was not going to be an easy feat to dig this out. I could also hear mom in the car telling the two children in the back seat to behave.”

“How long have you been stuck here?” I asked

“About twenty minutes” he said pulling his hat down over his ears. “Not much traffic tonight with this weather.”

“You should have left the car running” I offered “To keep the heat flowing”

“It will not start” was his pained answer.

“Well, let’s get your family out of there and into my truck to get warm again.” I encouraged.

The next fifteen minutes were spent digging a path from their buried car to the highway and my warm idling truck.

“With the effort it took to dig that short path to the highway, I’d say some machinery will be needed to get your car free again.” I told him. “We’re outside of cellphone coverage here but I live about twenty miles down the road, so let’s go there and assess this problem in more comfortable conditions.” Groceries, gifts and other items of their Christmas shopping were moved from their car to the back of my truck.

On the way to my place the Belmont family introduced themselves and explained they lived in Faro, a community about two hundred miles further up the road. They were headed home after completing their holiday shopping until they were introduced to the snowbank.

Arriving at my home, all and sundry were unpacked from the truck and moved indoors. My wife was informed of why I was bringing home unplanned guests and she heartily welcomed the interrupted travellers into our home. Taking stock of the situation at hand, it was clear that this would not be an easy situation to resolve in the near term. With the temperatures forecasted to fall further overnight we knew a tow truck would not be dispatched until around noon the next day, shortly after the sun came up.

My wife went into her hostess mode and started a pot of coffee and made snacks for them to eat as she questioned them about the basics. She was informed by Nancy Belmont that they had only moved to the Yukon back in September, eighty-something days ago, confirming this was their first winter living in the subarctic with all the perils the winter season brought with it…and they were learning a great deal as they experienced the wrath of a winter North of 60.

Their sons David and Ken were in the family room getting to know my son Mike as they played video games while the adults sat around the kitchen table considering the options available.

I piped up with the painful news that their car will need to be assessed for damages and to at least thaw the snow that got pounded into the engine. Snow gets into the engine compartment and freezes solid making it even more difficult to start it in these temperatures. So, it was considered that this was going to involve much more than a pull out and then resume their journey.

“Looks like you will be staying with us tonight.” my wife concluded, “Your car will not be ready to drive until at least late tomorrow or longer, so let’s make a plan for the next couple of days.”

Sleeping arrangements were made utilizing the spare bedroom and foamies on the floor of the rec room with sleeping bags for the kids and we all settled in for the evening.

Ted and Nancy Belmont were up early to face an uncertain day as the thermometer outside the kitchen window displayed -38. The welcoming smell of fresh brewed coffee and bacon frying greeted all as they entered the kitchen - always the primary gathering place in our home.

Dialing up the territorial weather webpage, Faro was currently sitting at -44 so the road home would be challenging with extreme cold along the way. Calls were made to local tow truck operators, and the third business called said they could be at the scene in about an hour. Ted and I ate our breakfast first in order to make our way to the frozen Honda resting in a snowbank.

We inspected the car after its extraction from the snow and discovered some damage to the suspension system and agreed that it was not safe to drive unless repairs were made. The wrecker hauled the car to the Honda dealer as Ted spoke with the service department on the phone at the motel coffee shop where we stopped to warm up. The news was not good: the shop appointment book was full for the next six business days. For them to inspect the damage and IF the needed parts were in stock another two days of work would be required, but Christmas and time off for the mechanical staff added yet more days of waiting. For how long was unknown.

“I guess we’ll need to rent a car.” Ted observed but needed to consult with his Chief Financial Officer for her agreement before calling the rental company. So, we drove back to my place to share the news with our wives.

Ted and Nancy had a private discussion in the living room on how to deal with this situation. It was a bigger challenge for them due to their present financial status, with an unknown pending bill for repairs to the car, the rental car costs and another trip from their home community back to Whitehorse before all was back to normal. The coming costs were adding up quickly.

Somehow my wife was aware of their present financial status and drew me aside to talk about how we could help them. The options were: lend them the money they needed to get out of this situation, lend them my old F-250 wood truck to get home, or for them to stay and spend Christmas with us. I was agreeable to any of these options and we then asked the Belmonts which option they preferred.

The discussion about which option was best for them and us lasted about ninety minutes. It was further concluded that another day spent with us was needed for any of these options to become possible.

I knew the battery in the pickup would need charging before it could be started, and we would need to dig it out of the snow of its winter resting place in the back yard, otherwise it was safe and reliable. They had no relatives in the north, so they did not need to be anyplace else for Christmas and Ted was off work until the new year. They refused to accept any money, so it was decided they would spend the festive holiday with us. Additional trips to town for more food, booze and gifts were made and all was in readiness for Christmas eve.

We had a marvelous time over Christmas getting to know the Belmonts and hearing their story that brought them to the far north of Canada. The kids had a terrific time playing together and the young Belmont boys were surprised that Santa knew where they were and delivered their gifts to this location.

Dinner that evening was one of the most memorable I’ve ever experienced; Nancy had introduced us to a couple of her family recipes supplementing our Christmas dinner and we all ate in abundance. Our bellies full, the glow of the fireplace equal to the glow of our hearts among our new friends.

The Belmonts called us from their home a couple days later to confirm my old pickup had delivered them safely to their community. The Belmonts have become close friends since that Christmas eighteen years ago and we have also spent the seasonal holiday with them in Faro and many family camping trips together as we introduced them to some outstanding camping locations throughout the Yukon.