Snowed in on Sunday:
“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………Pema Chodron
“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Bing Crosby
“That’s gonna be awful clean down there” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Andy Sipowitz, NYPD Blue
Four feet of SNOW in 12 hours……that could be the week in review…. but we get ahead of ourselves…. Brrrrrrr…
After a stretch of not reaching 20 degrees for four days, with lows overnight below zero, last Sunday was a tropical 40, so trekked south for ride and a walk for the Beast (guess which one?)…..Weston, Londonderry, Stratton Mountain…quirky Vermont sausages for lunch- au- car from Honeypie……………long dirt road walk as the farmers along the mountain lane out hanging lites….gift of extended daylight until a robust quartet to five……but harbinger of big things to come in the air…..gonna need a bigger boat…..
Then…. our newest bestie, Christine of the Vegas (eldest daughter of our benefactress, Karen) sends along a response to last week’s Blog with best wishes/dire warnings for handling the Vermont Winter on the mountain……along with pix of THE blizzards of 78 and what they did to The Inn (pix attached) …. impressive, fear worthy……and………………. another harbinger……
Harbinger becomes reality……four feet of snow in 12 hours overnight on Wednesday….what happened to Global Warming?….never seen anything like it…..shades of The Shining…..could not get out front door….could not see the barn….thought Jenn’s car was stolen, till we found it under a fifteen foot drift of snow…..had smugly put my new car in the barn in anticipation (of maybe 12 inches)…..which we may see again in a week or two once the eight feet of snow in front of the barn doors recedes….WOW……The Curse of Christine -Storm of the Century….
Fortunately, we were on good terms with food, water and edibles…and the power stayed on…and the internet worked…and we streamed…. A LOT-…and made on line music……so…could be worse??????….and then Master Bowbie, and the town plow came through on Friday morning, clearing the lane (not the barn) ….and then……… we hit minus 18 on Friday night…are you shitting me…do people do every year?……what are we, Eskimos?
Saturday we were able to dig out the lost car, get down the lane and go to town…..such as it is….after The Dump, the post office, the unreachable library, and our package delivery drop-off/pickup at the abode of The Masseuse in the Trailer (she has a mailbox)…..we took Lucy for short dirt road snow walk….frozen feet after 20 minutes (us, not her)…..and then…… having felt isolated enough for one week….I braved a night drive down the mountain to Ludlow to DJ’s to pick up dinner…..ARE WE NUTS????????….with daily records for cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Ludlow was crawling with people, every open restaurant filled, traffic jam in the center of town…..99% out of state lunatics….had to wait 15 minutes for my called in order to be ready…so, refusing to be amongst the lunatics, stood outside in the freeze, face mushed up against the window waiting for the signal….like a waif from a Dickens Christmas……we live in a world of crazy people …..but I must say the Roast Duck with Cherry Bing Sauce….may have made it worth it……
Speaking of crazy, how about the GOP Congressman from Colorado who has announced he will not take the vaccine…because HE IS AN AMERICAN……straitjacket anyone?
And what else is there to say (you’d be surprised) ……. SNOW, SNOW, MORE SNOW……………The Pond will be up to the Manse after it rains this week…. where will it all go?………….Saw the new cat twice this week…. TQ is alternately calling her Malo, Mahalo, Saffron and Jai-Lai….no wonder she has no idea where the hell she is………Workouts in The Barn…. have become a challenge even after digging out the side door to get in…. but who’s complaining….
And, does Santa still use the USPS (we need another stamp raise to stay afloat) to deliver?………….Vermont Santa made that mistake (only place we could get to for shipping) …and our gifts are floating around the Bermuda Triangle at this point (February?) ……along with my title application to get the new car registered in Ohio…. but who’s complaining?……..
Tess, bless her heart, organized a Christmas cookie bakeoff with Nanna for the grand-girls …so at least one tradition survived in the time of COVID…and The Queen helped organize a massive food relief effort for those who have not, which resulted in the collection of four hundred or so pounds of mac-n’-cheese, etc…Vermont is community focused….
And the local new hip radio station in Rutland (that has a signal you can get within about three miles) continues to astound and amaze…. last night on way to crazed Ludlow played a set which included, Bruce’s Spirit in the Night (all right), Four Tops I’ll be There, Van the Man and the Chieftains and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys……have now arrived at another retro planet………
And…that…must…… be it….
Have a wonderful Christmas…hope Chanukah went well……if you’re something else……. well, good luck with that. Be safe……next year: Jerusalem…….
Joy to your worlds, Papi
