|
September 2003 Archive The Museum, and the rest of Washington Grove, lost power around midnight Friday morning. I stayed in the Museum overnight (the Curator had been "called away" on "urgent business" and Gus the maintenence man had just disappeared), and things got pretty exciting - the wind was fierce, the rain hard and driving. Fortunately, the Museum Kittens were very brave and helped keep my flagging spirits up. And speaking of spirits, the bottle of Gosling Black Seal rum certainly helped morale, too. Around 1:00 AM, there was a loud crack followed by a crash overhead. I rushed out of the Historic Cottage and found that it had been hit by a glancing blow from a large tree limb - but there was no damage that I could see with my flashlight. The storm began to weaken after that, and I finally bunked down not long after.  After the Deluge - Friday morning Rosy-fingered Dawn revealed that Washington Grove had been hit pretty hard. Several houses had been damaged - some quite severely - by falling trees. The Historic Cottage had luckily escaped damage from the falling limb, I found in the moist light of day. Still no power, and I also discovered that the phone lines were down for the museum and nearby houses. I wandered about, as did the rest of the town residents, and took a lot of pictures. Utility crews from all over began to appear and the juice began to be restored, though the Museum and the houses on Grove Road didn't get it 'til Sunday at noon. We had crews from Alabama and Florida working on our lines - fine fellows, all. However, the phones (and the internet, of course) didn't come back on until Tuesday. Even without physical damage, though, it's taken a couple of days to get the Museum ship-shape again; thus the unconscionable delay in posting here. The contents of the staff cafeteria freezer and fridge had to be thrown out, including, sadly, a ceremonial haggis that had been presented to the Museum many years ago by the late Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman, authors of Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, the wonderful cookbook of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey & Maturin novels. Very sad to see it go... Also, it appears that the busload of German tourists referenced below who never showed up for their scheduled tour seem to have simply disappeared. Since the Museum was their final destination of record, we've had to answer a number of questions from the authorities. Everyone is quite nice about it - no one is blaming us or anything - but it is a bit disturbing. Where could they have gone?  Peaches, a Washington Grove Pacer Farm Cat, surveys the damage to the Sacred Circle.  Charlie Hawk, longtime Grove resident, Marine veteran, drummer of the Muskrat Band, Friend of the Janus Museum, friend - died on August 30. I just got back from the memorial service in our town hall; wonderful Charlie stories, laughs, music, and of course, plenty of food and wine. A memorable Charlie quotation from the service - The square root of bullshit is bullshit. How we'll miss Charlie... 18 September - Isabel Update  5:00 - The rain is picking up. So is the wind. And the busload of German tourists never showed.  4:30 - I went out around noon for some last minute panic shopping and to have a little panic lunch. The rain started during lunch, and has been fairly intermittent since then. Winds have been gusty and variable. Barometer is falling slowly. The Museum Kittens are napping. The clouds rolled in overnight. At 10:00 the winds are light and variable, barometer is steady, and the Museum Kittens are going nuts - but that's pretty normal. We'd like to follow the example of our big downtown cousin the Smithsonian and shut down for the duration, but we're expecting a busload of German tourists - the Curator is anxious to get them into the gift shop. I call it hubris, myself. 16 September - The Calm Before the Calm Before the Storm  A beautiful cloudless day as Isabel bears down on The Janus Museum. We spent the day moving our most valuable objects into the museum's sub-basement. I wonderered aloud if that's the best place for the artifacts, because of the flooding that occurs whenever Wallingford Creek rises - but I was overruled. As for the heavy winds that are expected, the Curator claims that we'll be sheltered by the huge ancient oaks that surround the museum. I fear the worst, and have laid in an emergency supply of rum. In other news, Attorney General Ashcroft characterized criticism of the Patriot Act as "hysteria" - he mentions it six times. What I find hysterical is the AG's performance of his own song Let the Eagles Soar (Real Audio format). 8 September Presidential resolve through the ages. 7 September - The Great Escape  The Unspeakable in pursuit of the Uncatchable Maxine (Security Operative M2.02) exceeded her instructions yesterday and took off for a thorough perimeter security sweep. Actually, she caught sight of Peake,the suave, debonair Washington Grove Pacer Farm cat, and took advantage of an entering Museum visitor to make a run for it. Peake legged it when Maxine approached - what a cad! Not at all cast down, Maxine had a fine time exploring the Museum garden with all of its exciting new smells. Gus, the Museum's maintenence man, followed after, attempting to apprehend her, hopelessly dangling a bit of vine - dangly things are usually of great interest to her. But not with all of the Great Outdoors finally available to her - Maxine's wild nature had been called to, and she responded. Finally, Gus cornered the little brute on the Pacer Farm porch, where they were snapped by the Pacer Farm's Circle Cam. We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the Pacer Farm in making the pictures available. Maxine, Terror of the Circle, purrs in my lap as I type this. 6 September  A sign of the times - visitors to The Janus Museum face increased levels of security. The Museum Kittens, Maxine (left) and Max, maintain their vigilance from the door of the Historic Cottage. |
