The lobby of the Alexandria Hilton Mark Center is nearly deserted.
A few of us sit in the bar lobby, watching three TV screens flickering with the local and national Eyewitness Action Weather Scareteam updates telling us what we already know. Occasionally, an elevator door slips open and a dejected fellow appears. He wanders to the window and looks out at an alien landscape, through the glare of a solid wall of blowing snow. Last year, he thinks, it was in the 60s. The trees were trying to pop open. The hotel was already spreading mulch. Global warming was going to kill us all. Now, this.
I think a mastodon just wandered through the taxi lane.
The second blizzard in a week has struck half of the country, and this annual gathering of Freemasons may be a little thinner than usual, as a result. Almost two feet of snow was already here when Alice, Wiley and I pulled into the lot in the Dumkopfwägon yesterday evening. Now, another 8-14 inches or so is falling, and winds are making drifts even deeper.
Wednesday's "Art of Initiation" events at the George Washington Masonic Memorial have been cancelled. Many brethren due to arrive today are either canceling or moving their flights to arrive Thursday. The Masonic Society is still on track for its annual banquet on Friday, and we have 90 reservations—a fantastic number for only our second year. Hopefully, most will be able to be here. The hospitality suite will open tomorrow. Please check at our table in the vendor's area for the room number, as it has not yet been assigned.
We intrepid Hoosiers are not weather weenies and do not succumb to pesky irritants like blizzards, road closures, black ice and avalanches. Masonic Society Secretary/Treasurer Nathan Brindle drove in with a carload of supplies and met Director Jim Dillman at the airport in Baltimore. I hauled a trailer full of stuff, as well.
The good news is that, if no one shows up, I have enough scotch to last the week, as long as Nathan and Jim are sippers.
In the meantime, here is what Washington is doing with all of its snow.
More as it happens.
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BE A FREEMASON Wednesday, February 10, 2010
5 comments:
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I'll drink the Maker's Mark, if nothing else :)
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you. With transportation dicey at best from the NYC area, I'm sorry to say I had to cancel my plans to be at Masonic Week this year. Had looked forward to buying dinner for you and Lady Alice. Better luck in 2011.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here only 45 minutes north of the hotel, and I have no idea when I'll get in. My plan of driving in late today is shot. I hope we'll get plowed out enough to make it down for Thursday evening, and failing that I'll shoot for Friday morning. I hope there's still some scotch left!
ReplyDeleteBrent
Now you all are getting a taste of what us Iowans have been enduring all winter. We are experience are worst winter since the mid-1850s.
ReplyDeleteI'd consider BBQing if I could find my grill under the snow drift.
Look at it this way; even if there's a drought this summer, we'll have plenty of ground water...
ReplyDelete