The Dynamic Duo

An interesting surprise awaited us when we looked outside that morning. A couple of inches of snow had already settled, and more was on the way. My brother’s house is replete with many large, stately conifers, so the scene was like a winter wonderland. In Placerville, California. In March. “This is the most snow I have ever seen here,” Jane informed us. “I think there is enough to build a viable snowman.” Or so she claims. What I heard was “I think there is enough snow to build a Bible snowman.” Well, I mused, this was Sunday. Growing up in our home,on Sundays we were encouraged to forego our everyday activities in favor of those that turned our thoughts towards God and edified our minds. So, no monopoly or cards, no reading my favorite “Wizard of Oz” books. But loopholes can always be found and, rather creatively, I thought, I made up a “Bible Monopoly” game with a piece of cardboard and lots of paper. We bought Bethlehem and Samaria with doves, sheep and camels, and put tents & temples on our property. But a Bible snowman? “How do you make it a Bible snowman?” I asked innocently, “Does he wear a robe and sandals?”
Jane soon set me right, but I found the whole thing highly hilarious, and may have run it into the ground, just a bit, in the hours to follow. What really was NOT so funny was my apparent hearing problem. But more on that to come.
Meanwhile, Dave had been checking on Amtrak. Amtrak is notorious for running behind schedule, and apparently, this particular route was among the most notorious. He was hoping for an hour or two late; that way we wouldn’t have to arrive at the station at 6:00 A.M., but a delay of 4 or 5 hours was, at that time, projected, as they were having some problems with some of the rails. We decided to pack up, run on down to the station and decide from there; the top choice now being to drive to our destination in the large, roomy van. The packing up was soon accomplished with one minor hitch. Michael had worn his slippers the day before, and by the time he decided he needed his regular shoes to navigate the snowy landscape, they were packed away in an unknown and possible unreachable location. Jim and Uncle Dave were, therefore, elected to shovel the long sloping driveway. It probably wouldn’t have been a problem if the driveway sloped down to the road, but, alas, the slope was up. Time and time again Dave tried to back out of the drive, only to get stuck again partway up. Michael helpfully asked if they had any chains, and Jane located their equivalent under one of the seats. Dave positioned the snow “tubes”, as they were called under the front tires and Jim fastened them on. This routine was repeated many, many times as the tubes would fall off each time another backing out was attempted. The rest of us remained in the van to provide that helpful added weight. After 1/2 hour or so, Dave decided we should perhaps take a little break. “Maybe I’ll just see how hard it would be to locate Michael’s shoes,” Panther mused, as she rummaged throught the pile of suitcases and bags in the back of the van. Not all that hard, it turned out. We trouped back into the house, raided the fridge for an eclectic breakfast, and played “Dimishing Whist” for the next hour. Jim was doing very well, for just having learned the game, and was kind of rubbing it in. “Remember what the Berenstein Bears say,” Panther remonstrated, referring to a forgotton (by me) childhood book, “Noone likes someone who puts on a big, braggy show.” As you can imagine, this became an oft-repeated phrase throughout the rest of our vacation. By the time we again loaded up in the van, enough snow had melted that our next attempt was successful.
Amtrak was now running about 7 hours late, so we stopped by the train station only long enough to secure a refund for the purchased tickets. Finally, after a quick stop at In-and-Out Burger, we were on our way to, hopefully, sunny southern California. Dave and Jane alternately did all the driving; I think it was a 6-7 hour drive. With their long legs (Michael is 6’6” and Jim 6’3”) it would have made sense for the two boys to sit in the middle, roomier, seat of the van, but as I tend to get carsick, Jim allowed me a middle seat berth, and he took the “way back” with Aunt Debi. Michael entertained himself with his laptop computer watching borrowed-from-Johnny episodes of Futurama, and Jim and Aunt Panther entertained themselves by playing with the rubber chickens. They had contests to see who could squeeze out only the yolk, or only the white (harder). Jim, apparently, got a bit too competitive, and soon his chicken sprung a leak, right in its egg-white. “I needed to bring two chickens back,” bemoaned Panther, thinking of the chicken that got, or was given, away. “Oh, well. No big deal.” Panther is not one to dwell long on negative things.
It was after dark when we reached our destination.

Next time: Sunny San Luis?

UltraMom

UltraMom and Jane thinking about building a “Bible Snowman”

Dave surveys the snowy landscape from his front door