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Monday, February 10, 2014

The Un-muddled Mathematician

The Other Osama Sees Bear Lake Snow

Chris S. Coray
The Un-muddled Mathematician                               

We have had visitors from the Middle East with us for the last 3 weeks.  One from Syria, one from Jordan.  Our dear friend, Itedal, from Syria couldn’t get over how cold it was.  She is currently living in California where it has been warm.  We didn’t think it was very cold during her visit, which included the Cisco Disco.  She walked around in our house wearing a blanket.  But she survived and is probably telling stories about the freezer we call home. 

The second visitor (Osama) has been with us for two weeks.  He is from Jordan.  He has seen snow there but whatever falls is very rare and is gone by noon.  He is a charming man who can and does talk as much as my wife Bobbie, which is pretty much continuous unless sleeping.  However, after a couple of days in SLC we brought him to our home, traveling up the Logan Canyon at night.  For 40 miles we saw only one car.  Osama got very quiet during the trip and I didn’t help by telling him about the bears, mountain lions, and other creatures.  To say the least, he was happy when we pulled into our garage.

I took him out on the ice near Cisco Beach.  He didn’t seem to mind it much (pay attention, Kam and Bob) and watched Eldon and Dwayne fish through a hole and even catch a rainbow.  He did wander out far enough that he heard the ice crack so he hustled back near the shore.  

Then it began to snow.  Serious snow.  He made a video on his phone so his wife could learn how he died.  The snow got deeper.  Osama shoveled my deck.  A nice job except for the immediate drifting that followed.   

We had appointments in SLC so we actually left Saturday, barely making it off the hill.  For a while the canyon to Logan was closed but after about an hour we were able to get behind a plow and made our way to Logan.  During the trip Osama had the rear window down, making more phone videos of the snow.  He was in sort of shock.  It’s a good thing we went Saturday since the avalanche closed the canyon and it is still closed as of this writing.  Now he can talk about the journey because he lived, whereas he was stone silent during most of the driving excepting for a few fervent Al HumdAllahs (Praise be to God) as we reached Logan.  I think he will kiss the ground when he goes home tomorrow.  Nobody will believe his story, even with the visual evidence.  You have to admit that this storm has been unusual, even preventing skiers and snowmobilers from getting to destinations.  It has been a real adventure and we have been happy to have been part of it. 
 
Welcome to Bear Lake, Osama.

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