Well, I did it. By God's grace I survived my first semester as a seminarian.

Since I last updated, I endured a 16 hour long drive from Saint Louis, MO, to Mandan, ND. Fellow seminarian Jim Arlien and I car pooled north after my last test on Tuesday. We headed westward to Kansas City with a slight accidental detour along some beautiful Missouri countryside. Then northward along I-29 to Omaha, Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, and Ashley, ND, where I dropped Jim at the home of his parents. I continued on to Christ the King Parish in Mandan, where I'm staying for a day or two before heading to my parents' home in Bottineau for Christmas. I'm tired of driving, but happy to be home.

Merry Christmas!

Ah, the joy of final exam week. It's SIXTY-TWO DEGREES outside with little wind and lots of sun right now. And I have to sit in my stuffy little room with the blinds closed so I don't think about how nice it is out there. I need to stay FOCUSED. Three big tests in three days. Ouch. I wanna go for a bike ride soooooo bad.

I was sleeping sound in my bed, buried beneath a pile of heavy blankets. The wind and rain outside helped to lull me to sleep. But at 3:00 a.m. the fire alarm sounded for a few seconds as the power failed the first time. The alarm was so loud it scared me... a shot of adrenaline and my heart was racing. I was WIDE awake. Then the power flickered several more times.

As I looked out my window I could see flashes of light and hear the unusual sound of sparks flying from nearby power lines. The rain had been freezing on the power lines and trees for hours. It was finally too much and the power went out. In the gloom of the stormy night I saw flashes like this occurring all over the city.

That was very early Friday morning. The seminarians were using oil lamps, candles, and flashlights in the chapel to read Morning Prayer. Mass was by candlelight as well.

After Mass, we were told that we must leave the seminary. Without power the heat does not function. With temperatures below freezing, especially in the attic and north facing rooms, there was a fear of freezing pipes. The water had been shut off to prevent this. So I spent the night at my classmate's home nearby, where there was still power. For 450,000 other residents in the St. Louis area there was no power. It will take days to restore electricity to everyone.

The strange thing is that this seems to happen to St. Louis over and over. Earlier this year, the same thing happened due to wind damaging power lines. That time the seminary was without power for five days, I'm told. It seems to me that the utilities here have some serious reliability issues to work on.

The ice was (and still is) weighing down trees. As I sat in the dark watching power lines spark from my window, I heard a tree crack and collapse near my window. There were at least three or four right next to the seminary building that failed under the weight of the ice.

So, as I was saying, we were released from our seminary duties for the weekend. Like kids enjoying a snow day, we saw this as an adventure. Some college guys did some sledding on a slope near the seminary. It's just sad that they don't have real sleds.

While the icy trees and power lines are dangerous, it does look quite beautiful. The trees glisten in the sun today.

The sacred heart statue is covered in ice:

The ice is slowly melting now that it's clear and sunny:

The seminary's power was restored and I am back "home." I'm happy we weren't displaced for long and I pray everyone will get power soon. It's been a crazy weekend.