Bayport Mysteries #1: The Message in the Snow

I shouldn't have used my favorite mystery as the first in this periodical series. It would have been smarter to save the good material for part way through, or during a lull in sales, but this mystery is so appropriate for the theme of Valentine's Day that I couldn't help but share it.

If you drove Northbound on Macleod Trail right now, you would see a message stamped in the snow on the bank of the Canyon Meadows overpass. The message, written to "SanD", appears to be a very public proclamation of love, composed by some hopeless romantic. Each of us can probably recall times when we have left notes for our sweetheats, and we remember even better the thoughtful messages we have received.

A multitude of unique and fun ways have been used to ask someone out on a date, commemorate an anniversary, or even propose marriage. Just attending a YSA ward furnishes numerous such examples. But before you lump this anonymous writer in with everyone else who has arranged a Jumbotron salutation, or the throngs of once-a-year Hallmark Card-givers, consider this: Sandy's admirer has been leaving roadside loveletters for the past 20 years.

I first became aware of the messages almost 10 years ago when I patrolled that part of the city. Following each new snowfall I would look forward to seeing whether or not there was a new message. Because I often worked night shifts, I assumed that eventually I would come across the writer as he worked on his latest creation and I would learn the story behind it all. Even on those nights when it seemed like nothing was moving on the streets but us, the messages were completed by morning and I still never saw the person who left them.

Yesterday morning I was in the area for leadership training and I managed to stop and get the photo you see at the top of this post. I have heard it claimed that the messages are being written by a grieving brother in memory of his deceased sister but I don't think that's the case. It's not that I don't believe in the endless affection that a brother feels towards a sister - of course, I know it firsthand - but the messages seem more romantic than brotherly, particularly the interlocking hearts and "My Valentine" of the latest one.

My theory is that Sandy and her admirer are an older married couple. I imagined that the admirer started writing the messages so that Sandy would see them during her morning commute. If that were true, then the couple likely lives South of Canyon Meadows Drive, in an older neighborhood like Midnapore or Shawnessey because the messages predate many of the newer areas. Of the thousands of people who drive that route each day, I like to think that only one of them knows the secret behind the messages and the reason why the admirer has spent countless hours in the cold, in the middle of the night, just to write them.

My theory may be totally wrong but one thing's certain - whoever the admirer is, they seem to know more about true love than can be learned from a reality TV program or a diamond advertisement. I have nothing against Valentines Day; I think it's a wonderful reminder and a far more inspiring holiday than, say, Halloween. But when it comes to gift-giving or professions of love - nothing can compare to a lifetime of devotion.

- C