A New Year’s Christmas to remember

A New Year’s Christmas to remember

By Allan Olson

By all accounts, our new year started out with a bang. I’m guessing there are at least a few of you out there who can relate. On Tuesday morning (12/29), Abigail reported that she had a headache all night, and that was followed by a fever, followed by a trip to ER, followed by being sick the rest of 2014 and the first couple days of 2015. Not a fun start for this little girl, or her parents.

Of course we knew that with one sick in the house, sooner or later it would claim more victims. My wife and I were looking at the kids on New Year’s Eve, and we knew that Marcus was going to be next – just not when. On New Year’s Day, Abigail was feeling better and was finally eating some food, but by that evening Marcus decided it was his turn. And although he was sick, he didn’t want to act sick, except for a couple hours at a time. He did the whole removing food from his body act, and my wife didn’t get much sleep again that night, although I, admittedly, slept through most of the ordeal. He seemed better on Friday, so we were hoping that his was a short-lived attack. Abigail managed to get a cold on top of her sickness, so she still wasn’t feeling great, and on Friday afternoon Marcus had another setback, but by that evening he was chowing down on food again and said he was feeling fine. So the question was, “Who’s next?” My wife and I were hoping the answer to that was, “Nobody is next.”

We decided to brave the weather on Saturday and head north for our postponed Christmas Party. Once we got off the Scenic Highway and onto the main roads, we found that while they were a little snowy and icy, overall the going wasn’t as bad as I expected, and we set course for my parents’ place with speeds averaging about 50 mph. All was going well. 

We got to Baudette, made a pit stop, then headed west. I slowed down to make the turn, and saw that there was a lot of snow on the road, but I never expected that much snow! I hit the gas and started busting a trail through the deep drifted snow, thinking, “If I throw a belt, I’m going to be mad!” Of course, we made it about a mile through the snow when the vehicle quit. Sure enough, I had thrown a belt, and my van wouldn’t restart. I called my folks, and even though it was only about two miles to their house, it still took about 30 minutes for them to get to us. They had to plow through the snow drifts all the way to us. In hindsight (20/20), none of this would’ve been a problem if we had stayed in town 5-10 minutes longer, as a local resident (my parents’ neighbor) dropped his blade and cleared the path (after we were stranded). This neighbor was kind enough to hook my van onto his truck, too, and towed us to my parents, so that was one problem solved!

The next dilemma, though, was how to get the belt back on. I consulted a mechanic friend and he explained that it usually takes a lot of French words. That wasn’t much help for me; I use those words from time to time without ever working on a vehicle! With the assistance of my brother’s ATV, we were able to push the van into the garage and started trying to figure out what to do next. By then it was time for dinner and exchanging of gifts. Our plans to be home by dark had quickly faded, just as the sunlight had faded from the sky.

Next we tried consulting some online help, after which we decided that the best course of action was to remove the tire and splash guard to allow for easier access. So, right or wrong, that is what we did. It took some mighty strength just to remove the lug nuts – I got a couple, my dad got a couple, and my brother got the touhgest one. Then we started removing packed-in snow from everywhere, while my dad examined the belt diagram and determined how to put it on correctly. 

We scraped snow and ice off the pulleys and got what we could off. My younger brother looked at it and said it wasn’t good enough; we would need to remove more of the snow and ice. “Go ask mom for her blow dryer,” he suggested. I did, but with the threat of great bodily harm any damage should come to her new hair dryer. I climbed underneath the van  and went to work melting more snow and ice from the pulleys. It worked like a charm, but what a scene: me holding a nice new pink hairdryer underneath a dirty van, melting packed snow and ice. I eventually got the job done, and then we turned our focus to the process of getting the belt on again. 

Under this pulley, around that pulley, between those pulleys – what a nightmare! Thankfully, my dad and two of my brothers were there to take care of this task. Between us, this group of poor mechanics – with the right tool borrowed from another neighbor – got the job done done, even correctly. After we made sure the van started, we put the tire back on and left it running. By that time I had decided that I didn’t want to venture all the way home in the dark, so our quick one-day trip was turned into an over-nighter.

That evening, the my dad was finally able to get his hair done, after all these years. Three of his granddaughters took great pleasure in styling his hair in a variety of ways with hairbands and clips, adorning his coif with 33 different pieces in all. Everyone was quite amused by this exercise in fashion. Later, I helped my niece put hair bands in her brother’s hair by holding him down – that was quite fun, also.

While this wasn’t my ideal way to spend Christmas (on my back underneath a vehicle), at least nobody got hurt, and I don’t recall any French words flying about. And we did get to spend more time with family – there’s nothing wrong with that.

This week we will go to help our great-niece celebrate her first birthday, and then the kids and I will return home without their mom, who will stay to participate in her fourth annual winter fishing trip in memory of her dad.

Thanks to everyone for reading my columns in 2014 and as always, please be safe while enjoying your favorite outdoor recreational activity and on the lakes, and remember to take pictures to preserve a lifetime of memories. Remember to drive safely, and watch out for those buses carrying our children. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.