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23 December 2008 Ice Age I always sleep like the tomb up here. It is quiet, for one, and maybe it is the energy expended in getting here. I flew to Detroit from Reagan National, and the land below the wings quickly turned white with new fallen snow. It was colder than hell at Detroit Metro, and the snow was still fresh and the people were just sorting it out. The Hertz driver who picked us up in the little bus said all the big ones had the heaters broekn and he awas damned if he was going to drive a big cold bus. It was single digits, so all the attempts to move the white stuff on the roads had simply permitted it to harden in the breeze in a sheet of millimeter-thick invisible ice. I rented a big town car for the trip north, but realized it would be a tough technical drive when I saw the first cars in the drifts, headlights pointing at wild angles. I’am glad I was headed away from town. There was a wild pile of vehicles that had the south-bound lane of I-275 shut down for miles. The drive took a little longer than the normal four hours, but the Town Car hummed. Even though there was only one good lane on I-75, I was able to bull my way by on the icy side and made good time. Aside from the20reason I am here, the only unsettling thing is the two-story Santa depicted in lights perched on top of the hospital main building. It is the right jolly old elf in brilliant white and red slights, just his face and hat, with beard and the outlines of the tips of two green mittens. It is close in appearance to the famous "Kilroy Was Here Graffiti" of WWII. It towers over the hospital complex and dominates the night sky to the east of my parents house. It is more than a little intimidating, since Santa’s eyes are bright green, and it almost looks like he is angry. It did not occur to me until this morning, standing in the pre-dawn of short Michigan Winter day, that Santa was not looking down at me all pissed off. The people of the little city by the bay intend to shine their message of fierce seasonal greeting all the way across the water to harbor Springs and bring a note of cheer to the richer people over there. Vic Copyright 2008 Vic Socotra |