49. Spotlight on Crepuscular Meadows: When will the storm come?
Created | Updated Aug 5, 2020
49. Spotlight on Crepuscular Meadows: When will the storm come?
The camp was a nice place to hang out. Everyone agreed.
Even as the occasional gust of wind hurled leaves and small branches at the Dandriches as they emerged from their cabins, they reflected that this place had seen similar things many times before, and would certainly see them again.
Jim and Eulalie were already in the main cabin when the boys arrived. Jim was ensconced on the sofa, watching the news on TV. An image of a very large, circular cloud formation filled the screen. The green areas showed where it was raining. No doubt about it, even a small storm could reach from Pennsylvania to Northern Vermont. The green areas were almost at the Maine border.
"Hi, boys," Jim said, "come sit down and see what's coming."
In the kitchen, Minny was making blueberry pancakes, while Eulalie was scrambling eggs. A dozen strips of bacon
rested on a platter next to the stove.
"I don't suppose you guys would mind coming over for some breakfast?" Eulalie said. "Whether you eat or not, the storm will still do whatever it's going to do."
This seemed reasonable, and anyway they were hungry.
"The price they charged for maple syrup in that general store is highway robbery," Minny grumbled.
"The blueberries and bacon were also no bargain," Eulalie agreed.
"We could also complain about the cost of gas to get here, and the cost to insure the van, but at least we're getting our money's worth in the fun department," Jim said.
No one was commenting, because it's impolite to talk and eat at the same time. This was a family where good manners were respected..
When breakfast was out of the way, the three adults contemplated the fact that cousin Harry had not seen fit to put a dishwasher in the cabin. "He could outfit the place with wifi, but a simple dishwasher was beyond him?" Eulalie said in a mock-disapproving voice. She knew darn well that the camp had been far more rustic back in the 1960s. No one needed to bring water form the pump any more. Cousin Harry and his wife were probably content to wash their dishes by hand. The two women persuaded Jim that dividing up the dish washing among three people would make the job go faster. He could still hear the weather updates as he worked.
By 9:30 in the morning, the five of them were perched in various places in the cabin where they could work their laptops or read (Minny had brought a book; she insisted that ebooks were not for her).
And so the day passed. Occasionally someone would go outside to test for drops of rain. Sure enough, the rain did start to fall, and it gained momentum, along with the wind. By noon, it was coming down by the bucketful.
And then, by two the sun was out again and the road wasn't in particularly bad shape. "Let's go into town and see if there's anything interesting there," Jim said.
"Yeah, we need to load up on lumber and salvage items," Chandler said sarcastically.
"There's a coffee shop," Minny said. "Also a gift shop and a general store. You never know what you might find in places like that."
"Or, if those don't pan out, we could simply ride around the countryside," Jim offered. Moosesteak Falls is said to be pretty spectacular. Not as much as Niagara Falls of course,
but we came all this way. Why not see what it's all about?"
