During our time in STL, Old Man Winter hit with a ferocious winter storm mixed with gusty winds, frozen rain, sleet, and snow, with temperatures dropping 40 degrees into the 20’s. Sounds like a horrendous situation, but as luck might have had it, it meant that we were able to stay in STL an extra 3 days (lucky us!), and that Bella would get to see her first snowfall.
In preparation, we went to the store the night before the storm and bought her the cutest little pair of snow boots. I knew she wouldn’t wear them more than a few times because her feet grew so fast you could practically see them stretch and because I didn’t’ think we’d have much use for them once we returned to the balmy California sun. So in hopes of avoiding sticker-shock from high-priced shoes from department stores, we went to Target instead. We’ve never purchased Target shoes before, but after this visit, I can tell you we’ll be back! The quality and craftsmanship were excellent and the prices were even better!
The boots were made of a combination of suede-like leather and plush sheepskin. Unlike most children’s boots, the upper portions were soft and pliable enough to allow her ankles to actually bend when walking. Those of you who grew up in snowy weather know what I’m talking about: Those hard, brace-like boots that constricted any lower leg movement like they were stuck into cement blocks and made you tip forward if you tried to run…
…Anyway, enough about the boots. As expected, Bella was only in them for a grand total of 20 minutes before she nodded her head, “yes” when we asked if she wanted to go inside. Not that she wasn’t curious about the snow; she frolicked playfully and kicked around the white fluffy powder and waved her mitten-clad hands about. Grandpa even created a make-shift snow sled, made from a large plastic bin with two holes drilled into the side for a rope to pull.
We took her to the top of our 10-degree inclined hill in our backyard and placed her in the bin. At first she resisted, thinking we were probably going to leave her in this strange white wonderland locked up in a plastic bin. But once we started pulling her downhill, she sat quietly trying to absorb why all this was happening to her.
Here’s a glimpse of her white adventure:
I wish our memories of the storm were only of the beautiful snow-topped pine trees and brilliant crystal icicles hanging from rooftops, but the reality of it was, the blizzard dropped a thick layer of ice on the roads, creating dangerous driving conditions, and left more than 40,000 without electricity during 20 degree weather. Fortunately, my parent’s home was spared, but as a precaution, my mother decided to crank up the thermostat in case the power went out.
Then there was the situation at the airport. I was already apprehensive about our return trip after our ordeal with Bella traveling to STL. Since Jin had returned home a few days earlier to work, I would be the lone ranger fending against Bella if she decided to be less than cooperative in-flight.
We reached the airport early in the morning expecting the security lines to be long. Many people had been diverted to STL from Chicago and surrounding areas once the storm moved northeast. And many people had spent the night in the airport on the cold hard floors. We were fortunate we had nice toasty beds to sleep in, but my gut feeling told me that we were in for a long day of traveling.
Sure enough, we all boarded our plane on time only to sit at the gate for more than 4 ½ hours. The captain announced that we were waiting for de-icing fluid for the wings. Of course safety should come first, but shouldn’t they have accounted for this knowing the storm was coming? And why should it take more than 4 hours? Who was to blame for this? Later as I told Jin about our fiasco, he promptly wrote a nasty letter of complaint to American Airlines.
Although Bella was absolutely stellar in behavior, the thought of being trapped for another 4+ hours if the plane ever took off was enough to bring tears to my eyes, so in a split second decision, I called my mother who booked us on the flight the following morning.
As we gathered our belongings to deboard the plane, people who had gotten acquainted with her all turned towards the aisle at us and said their bye-bye's. "Bye, Bella!", they said in unison. In true Hollywood form, Bella smiled brightly and blew kisses to her beloved fans as we strolled down the aisle towards the front of the plane.
Grandpa and Grandma were thrilled to see us again. They raced back to the airport to pick us up. I had gotten little sleep the night before so I took a short snooze to regenerate for the following day's travel...
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