DEC-A-3
THE WINTER’S FIRST SNOW STORM CLOSES DOWN
DC,
AND
ISOLATES ME IN THE SNOWY WOODS OF DERWOOD
FOR
A DAY OF PACKING AND PLANNING
FOR
THE NEXT WEEK’S TRIPS
Dec.
5, 2002
We had all known it was coming, and even had a rather precise estimate about how much and when it would start and stop. Still, it seemed to come as a shock to Washington, since this unfamiliar stuff is heavy, cold wet and slippery, and not possible to drive in, so there were universal cancellations and lots of accidents among all those who tried to move about.
I packed and repacked the Bronco for a couple of excursions, but never left the driveway, as I had planned to get a haircut, but phoned to get no answer at the barber, and decided it was not worth the effort of going down to Aurora Drive to try to re-clean my house there after the repairmen had left it dirty after its last cleaning. I put the hubs into the locked position for getting around tomorrow, and then set about doing small postponed chores in preparation for the trips to: 1) Cambridge and Somerset County this weekend to take David Schaefer out deer hunting with Bill Webster Friday evening and Saturday morning; 2) the multiple stops of the trips top Chicago and Michigan starting Tuesday on a United Airlines that will probably declare bankruptcy between now and takeoff time; 3) Cumberland Island—all my hunting gear for that January excursion to be left in Craig Schaefer’s truck for his road trip down as I will be flying to Jacksonville on Dec. 30.
And, I also shoveled snow. It is serious snow—a foot deep and very wet and heavy. I made a path to my door and also to the back door where Jim usually leaves my mail, but then I realized he would not likely make it up the drive to do so. I put my outgoing mail in the mailbox, and when I went down later I saw his truck tracks half way up the drive, but he turned back and left the incoming mail, including my first Christmas card, in the mailbox.
It is beautiful. I took a few pictures, and thought I would not attempt to drive out, but will wait until tomorrow for that, and loaded up the Bronco for those multiple venues when that happens. I saw deer scooting around in the woods, now very much apparent where they usually are hidden, including a couple of young ones, for whom this is the first snow they have seen, and must be an experience that is bewildering.
It is not the first snow I have seen—in fact, I have had multiple layers of snow from mountain tops in the Himalayas—Nepal in May, and Lingshed in August--, and then a heavy deep snow fall on me in the elk hunting camp of the fourteen thousand foot range of Capital Peak in Colorado. I had to wade through that deep virgin snow and also lead horses, then ride them out in falling snow, and then—the trickiest part—drive back to Denver in a heavy snow fall that had nearly no visibility for at least the mid-part of that drive.
But, now, here it is in Derwood, and I had just packed up the rifle and its other hunting gear for an excursion out to the Eastern Shore to have one more go at it before the brief rifle season is over. If I got a chance at a doe, I might try it with the big .44 Ruger Mag pistol, and might probably donate it to FHFH (“Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry”). However, if that big buck at the Vo Tech School in Somerset County that has been reported as having been spotted, I will surely try for him with the .270 Browning, and then we would all have something not only in the Jim’s Custom Meat Cutting but also in Parker’s Taxidermy.
I made one determination of what is to be and what cannot happen: I started packing up all the neatly labeled, annotated and completed photo album collection of 2002 to carry with me to Michigan for those who want to review the events of the year in color instead of their already received black and white collections in the photojournalism of the year-end letter. I saw that I could not get them all in one large suitcase, and even dividing them into two (unwieldy) suitcases would be difficult. I then carried one of the dual album cases to the scale and calculated that I have 128 pounds of pictures organized in 2002. So, I know we will have a big family gathering on the weekend in Grand Rapids—I think Milly has reserved the church hall for this event—but I will carry only a few pictures and not the complete set of the organized albums. That is too bad, since they constitute an unguided tour that one can take at the rate one should choose of some of the world’s more spectacular spots—not to exclude Derwood in fresh snow cover.
I am supposed to run the Rockville 10 K through the King Farm on Sunday, with Joe, and I will try to see if that will be possible given the early start and the road closings that will make it difficult to get back to it from Bethesda where I would go to pick up Joe. We will see if the snow is still here when we try to take that run on, which will be the last race of the year for me, before I pack the test Reeboks off with me to Mindanao Philippines, to mail them back when I return.
I plan to go to GW tomorrow and to try to also fix what remains in Aurora to be repaired or cleaned. I just got a sheet of the “seller’s costs” which includes dozens of itemized charges for fees that include more than ten “transfer fees” etc, and all of them collusive, with $500 charges duplicated and tax charges and recording fees, all adding up to over 10% of the proceeds of the sale—including a $19,800 realtor’s fee. There are also duplicated buyer’s fees that are assessed to me, and then, most outrageous, “Repair Fees!” For what reason then have I just spent two months and three contractors and $8,000 getting everything repaired and landscaped? This is such a conflict of interest rip-off that I am astounded that no one has yet tried to straighten out the creative accounting of “Closure Costs”---all for imaginary services, all of which generate a fee which by magic is always $500 or more for each of the several times it is assessed. What a scam! And now all that fine landscaping is under snow and leaves, and the further repairs will track in new dirt for the next re-cleaning of the house. If it continues to run the ticker, and come to a contest of bidders when I am out of the country, I may be able to do it all over again.
Well, I am at least snug and cozy in a winter wonderland scene in Derwood, watching deer bound around the homestead before driving a hundred miles away from them to have a go at their Eastern Shore cousins.