Dawn is cool, clear and dry. The Lady in Red on the flat screen told us the tropical depression that used to be a hurricane would pass us by in Virginia’s Piedmont, and usher itself out to the north and east. It will be replaced by cool, clear and dry air coming down from Canada or one of those places.

Enjoying a smoke in the permitted area of the Loading Dock, we saw the prediction come true. Moist, dank air flooded north over Refuge Farm, clouds moving “left” across the roof of the barn, and then slowly changing direction to “right” across the outbuildings and the dancing green of the trees that shelter the south pastures.

The change in direction brought a bright dawn, and an unusual arid aspect to a week filled with rain. The Farm escaped damage, though the Project was in the midst of the change. The back-up generator is installed, and worked briefly on a test activation prior to storm Ida’s passing. But our trench to accommodate propane transfer was submerged and failed the County inspection, requiring four trucks and a small party of workmen who worked through the downpour. We hope they- or at some of them- will return to complete connections, receive a passing grade on compliance with County Code, and permit us to go back to ignoring the possibility of failure of the electrical co-op’s connection to the grid. With that ignorance covered by reliable back-up power.

What did they say about bliss?

But we have at least taken a step in readiness, or at least encouraged the Chairman to do so, which is all one can do as our government seems to have taken on a life entirely under its own power. Apart from Farm projects, we seem headed in a direction not entirely of our own choice. The Writer’s Section is bemused by the development, since we all grew up in a different form of government. The government used to work for us, sometimes lurching a bit off the center to left or right, but always nudged back to something like the middle ground in which most of us were comfortable.

There is something different about all this. Some of us voted for it. Others did not, and the volume of the discussions about it have risen periodically in keeping with rain and events overseas. The tenor of the voices is quite familiar for those who recall the vituperation over the Vietnam conflict. The President seemed to bring that back in his remarks the other day, something a bit different than the nine years of the twenty year war over which he presided.

Our issues were different. A burly fellow with a County shirt named “William” came by in the bright sunshine to inspect trench details, but standing water precluded full and accurate examination. Interim “fail” went along with the mud and water in the trench. So more excitement is likely today to ensure a compliant trench and line are in place before fill, topsoil, seed and straw can be applied to the muddy mess.

Considering the uncertainty with everything else, the sun may help bring certainty. And a return of Inspector William to grant us permission to proceed to completion. That is how we remember things were supposed to work. A new project is put in place. An independent inspector, certified, arrives to see if things have been done in a manner that will work reliably. If the work has been done to standard, approval is given to bury things. It doesn’t seem to work that way in other  really big projects. We saw that the people up in Washington want to spend an amount of cash so big it dwarfs the annual expenses of the biggest economies on the planet. It is filled, reportedly, with all sorts of expensive things they did not have time to tell us about before they passed it.

We are not sure how that is going to work. The House of Representatives was called back from vacation early to vote on the huge package. And then they went back on vacation. The Writer’s Section looked skeptical when informed about a project this big that has no inspection required for completion. We would expect that step for installation of an expensive generator. We have no idea why there isn’t a similar requirement for a government project that is roughly 233,000 times bigger.

For the County Inspector, William seemed to think it appropriate. As people who are inadvertently “The Customers” in this process, we tend to agree.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra

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