Splash crashed. It was sort of ironic, since an incident like that involving a lost multi-million dollar jet is where his callsign originally came from, but this one was caused by productive labor in the interest of the limited public good surrounded by the pastures to the south and the formal front gardens that ace northwest.

We know- those of us who were smart enough to dodge some of the early pre-storm chores, which were layered neatly over the old chores left by Winter Storm Frida, a word that meteorologists should have known would be auto-corrected by “spellcheck” into the more common word “Friday.” For reference, the storm in question was nearly two weeks ago, Friday was yesterday, and the next storm is tomorrow.

We were taking a break, watching Splash attempt to catch his breath on a likely rock around The Ring. He had actually done a fairly good job of it, but we ought to provide some context to the faint air of apprehension hanging about like many of our tree limbs. Let’s be frank: Country Living also has some moments that are not pure bliss. We like to boast about the relative quiet and pervasive beauty of life in Piedmont, Virginia. It is undeniable. There are some other components of that tranquil life which are periodically interrupted by the remarkable power of the natural world.

Storm Frida left us with several simple tasks. One was to replenish the stock of firewood consumed by the jolly glowing fire that enabled us to prepare a few meals after the emergency back-up generator had its own emergency and quit providing power nine hours into the major regional power disruption.

So, the Lady in Red on the flatscreen informed us the next band of pinkish-colored computer graphics were headed our way on the back of a refreshed jet stream of frigid arctic wind. She was a little solemn when she announced we were going to get smacked again on Sunday by Something. Loma recommended we just capitalize the words signifying “unknown” to let you know that the computer models they use to forecast Some Things can be a little erratic, unlike the ones they assure us are always accurate for things ten or fifteen years in the future when they assure us the world will end. Loma was in favor of capitalizing the words in the whole sentence, but we are busy.

We were busy yesterday, too, but the roads were open. Travel on snow is not advised here. In fact, it was so bad in the last storm we are going to replace the old Governor who didn’t work in about a half hour. That included a necessary trip to the Distillery up the road, topping off the Internal Combustion Engines for the emergency trips we hope we are not making. Hitting the cash machine for some strategic reserve in case credit cards wouldn’t work, and checking stockpiles of consumable items. There were some other issues that were left hanging, since they did not involve actually leaving the property.

If there is to be Another Foot of Snow, the trash bin needed to be wheeled back from the county lane, the accumulated trash from Bunkhouse, Great House and other nooks needed to be collected before it froze in place, covered by mounds of white. Then a check of the emergency backup, with preparations for tools to dig our way to them if necessary. DeMille logical fellow he is, mentioned completing the photographic survey of the damage from the last storm before additional damage was incurred by Tomorrow’s Event. That meant boots and coats and mufflers and gloves and a walk around the perimeter fence and access road to demonstrate what the clean-up crews will have to deal with before more trees fall and cut us off from the external world. Recognizing the internet connection will fail with the obstruction of the moisture-laden clouds and falling branches, the insurance claim documentation needs to be forwarded before we are cut off again and have to repeat the process.

But what Splash was smiling about was that none of the tasks he had already accomplished involved actually “lifting and carrying.” The last item on the list was short, simple and in all capital letters: “WOOD.”

The lower case words around that last one would include “dry,” “neatly stacked,” and “organized.”

So that is what we are going to be doing the rest of the morning. Splash mentioned he might want to lay down for a while to rest up in case we are stuck resting for the next few days. We almost wished we had got up early enough to help. But if you don’t hear from us for a while, you will know why. You can only be between storms for a while. But look at what it is like between storms.

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