Article June 7, 2010 Issue

LIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS

BY LAURA REMMERDE

IT WAS A VERY DARK NIGHT in the mountains of northeastern Oregon. My two young children and I were seated in the backseat of a pickup truck driven by my neighbors, a married couple. We were heading home down a curvy, twisty, unlit road from a grocery shopping day in a town 45 miles from home. Since we lived in a remote cabin, we needed help getting to town, as my husband was busy with a necessary project on the ranch and needed our truck.

All seemed well until the headlights of the pickup suddenly went out.

When this first happened, our neighbor pulled over to see what had happened. But, unable to fix anything, he got back in the truck and continued driving at the same speed. As we drove through the darkness, I spoke up out of concern. So did my neighbor's wife. But he didn't share our concern.