A snowy beginning and impeachment
Did the snow surprise you? I watch the news pretty carefully and I knew they were calling for some falling weather, but they were so changeable in the amounts they were predicting, I lost faith in them. One day it was 1.2 inches, the next it was 3.5 and the next day it was down to almost nothing. The night before the snow they did have the accumulation back up to 3 inches plus. So, I guess I have to give them some credit. Here in Flint Hill we got almost exactly 4 inches of snow.
I don’t shovel snow anymore. For some reason, it is one of the things that bothers by lower back. I have had so much trouble with that over the years I have learned to deal with it. An orthopedic doctor told me long ago that at L4 and L5 I had one herniated disc and one bulging disc. I doubt they have fixed themselves, but if I am careful with how much wood I carry into the basement in one load, I can get by pretty well. Sometimes I think sitting and watching TV is one of the things that makes it worse. I suppose I should get more exercise. But that resolution has been made every year for at least the last 10, and I am still waiting for the inspiration to hit me.
I have been watching the impeachment process with some amusement. Now, don’t get your shorts in a wringer, I am going to be as non-partisan as possible. But at the current juncture Nancy Pelosi reminds me of an incident that happened to me once when I was fishing. If you have been around here for a while you might remember the motel that was in Washington, down near where the waste treatment plant is now. There was a nice lake on the motel property. As a matter of fact, I think the place was called The Lake Motel. When the four-lane came through, they cut right through the lake, and the upper half was filled in. The lower half remains and is near Rappahannock Park.
I had permission to fish there and I was on the dam of the lake, and thought I saw a huge bass under a willow tree that was hanging out over the water. I baited my hook up with a big bunch of fat, juicy fishing worms and tossed it out there under the limbs of the tree and sat down to wait. I didn’t have long to wait. My little red and white bobber slowly went under the water and kept going. I started winding my trophy in, but whatever was on the other end of my line had other ideas.
No matter, I was a pretty good-sized boy by then and knew a thing or two about catching fish. After a mighty battle I pulled out onto the bank an eel that was as big around as my arm and about three feet long. It lay there for a few moments, looking at me and probably trying to figure out how it was going to get even with me for pulling him out of his watery home. Then the blasted thing started twisting and turning and rolling, and the whole time it was stripping line off my fishing pole. My brother, Charles, happened to be fishing with me that day and he came over and cut my line. The eel slithered back into the pond.
And here is the comparison I am making. I saw that big creature under the willow tree. I wanted to catch it, and I did. But when I got it out on the bank, it was not what I expected. If you will recall, some of the newly elected Democrats in Congress were calling for Trump’s impeachment before they were ever sworn into office. They finally got what they wanted, but the look on Speaker Pelosi’s face these days continues to remind me of what I must have felt like when that eel started twisting and turning and ripping the line off my fishing pole. And I think it is a bit too late to try to cut the line.
I hope the snow didn’t inconvenience you too much. I thought it was kind of fun, especially when my roommate did all the shoveling. I helped a bit with the little tractor and we didn’t have any real problems. It was the cold that followed that chilled my bones a lot worse than the snow. Stay well and warm, and throw another log on the fire.