It turned out to be our good fortune that this first snowfall would give way to warmer temperatures and that the snow would melt and give us additional time to prepare for The Real First and Lasting Snowfall of the winter. There was yet work to be done to prepare the village for winter. (You could have fooled me! I thought we were ready to sit back and drink hot chocolate for the next 5 months!)
And just today, we have all checked on the extended forecast and beginning tomorrow night we have about a week's worth of "rain and snow" with freezing temperatures. This may be IT! With that forecast ever in mind, the last minute preparations have continued in earnest.
Rich Wilson, here as a volunteer for a week to check and "tweak" the various computer systems that keep the village running (some say that his work is "Magic," others say that he works "inside the black box") was actually out on a short hike on Sunday when he stopped by the labyrinth to see what Angela Mietzke and I were doing with all those stakes and all that frozen earth. He was soon put to work. This snow was actually from the previous 7" snowfall, and we needed to get the paths marked before the entire thing is covered by subsequent snowfalls. Then, little did I know, we will tramp the paths on snowshoes so that the labyrinth is available for walking throughout the winter. Eventually, the paths will remain flat from the tramping and the areas between the paths will rise so that you are actually walking in a trench carved out of the snow by snowshoes. We probably got this task completed on the last possible day to do it. Except for all the tramping, we are ready for the labyrinth-in-winter to take shape... literally.
If you want to see one more huge piece of road equipment, then you need to come to Holden and check out this snowplow. It has been named "Fluffy." It has been acquired since last winter and this will be its first test of keeping the 12-mile stretch of road between the village and the lake (our lifeline) open. Our jack-of-all-trades-and master-of-all-of-them-mechanic Terry Sanderson has just finished getting Fluffy into fighting form. He thinks this beast has got what it takes.
Sanjay Pakhrin, a volunteer here at Holden from Nepal, had never before seen snow. We quickly located a pair of shoes to replace the sandals in which he arrived, and he gamely carried on with his duties, never once losing his footing. Here he is carrying bags of "summer laundry" to the front rooms of Lodge 2 for storage during the winter.
Along with his wife Angela and infant daughter Aubrey, Trevor Gustafson has recently arrived to spend the next year at Holden. Trevor will be serving as the village plumber. Here he studies a fabulous piece of reading titled "The Uniform Plumber's Code." He is certainly trying to prepare against the possibility of frozen pipes.
This is an afternoon class involving all of those who drive vehicles and all of those who might be called on (i.e. all of those who drive vehicles) to use a chain saw to clear the road of fallen trees during the winter. The title of the class was "Winter Driving and the Safe Use of a Chain Saw." All of these individuals have full time jobs...say Director, or Pastor, or Head of Operations, or Teacher...but work a schedule of driving vehicles to and from the dock down on Lake Lucerne transporting guests and supplies. Following this "classroom" part of the discussion, members actually went to the road just outside the village and practiced their skills on trees that had been felled across the road. It is said that one of these "students" failed the class because he was not paying close attention and was too intent on being the "Class Clown." Can you guess which one that might be?
In the winter, a significant part of the dining hall is turned into a sort of living room for staff and visitors. A pool table and a ping pong table and shelves of books and games take the space normally taken by tables for guests. While we are preparing for snow, we are also preparing for a rather large influx of guests who will arrive for the Thanksgiving holidays. In preparation for their arrival, Joan Neslund, head of housekeeping, cleans the carpet.
Removal of snow and ice from the walkways is an ongoing process throughout the winter. Bill Somerville takes his first practice session at that job after the snowfall last week. I have been told that walkways may be bordered on either side by walls of snow 5 feet high. That is a lot of snow removal.
Sanjay Pakhrin, a volunteer here at Holden from Nepal, had never before seen snow. We quickly located a pair of shoes to replace the sandals in which he arrived, and he gamely carried on with his duties, never once losing his footing. Here he is carrying bags of "summer laundry" to the front rooms of Lodge 2 for storage during the winter.
Along with his wife Angela and infant daughter Aubrey, Trevor Gustafson has recently arrived to spend the next year at Holden. Trevor will be serving as the village plumber. Here he studies a fabulous piece of reading titled "The Uniform Plumber's Code." He is certainly trying to prepare against the possibility of frozen pipes.
This is an afternoon class involving all of those who drive vehicles and all of those who might be called on (i.e. all of those who drive vehicles) to use a chain saw to clear the road of fallen trees during the winter. The title of the class was "Winter Driving and the Safe Use of a Chain Saw." All of these individuals have full time jobs...say Director, or Pastor, or Head of Operations, or Teacher...but work a schedule of driving vehicles to and from the dock down on Lake Lucerne transporting guests and supplies. Following this "classroom" part of the discussion, members actually went to the road just outside the village and practiced their skills on trees that had been felled across the road. It is said that one of these "students" failed the class because he was not paying close attention and was too intent on being the "Class Clown." Can you guess which one that might be?
In the winter, a significant part of the dining hall is turned into a sort of living room for staff and visitors. A pool table and a ping pong table and shelves of books and games take the space normally taken by tables for guests. While we are preparing for snow, we are also preparing for a rather large influx of guests who will arrive for the Thanksgiving holidays. In preparation for their arrival, Joan Neslund, head of housekeeping, cleans the carpet.
Removal of snow and ice from the walkways is an ongoing process throughout the winter. Bill Somerville takes his first practice session at that job after the snowfall last week. I have been told that walkways may be bordered on either side by walls of snow 5 feet high. That is a lot of snow removal.We watch the skies and check the forecast and await the inevitable. Soon now. Very soon. We will be ready.
1 comment:
art is the clown ... what Joan keeps working!!! Go figure!
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