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NOVEMBER 2003 WISHING STAR RESULTS ISSUE |
CONTENTS Another
Successful Year - Wishing Star Gallop 2003
UPCOMING
ISSUES |
Hurricanes & Blizzards by Baxter Black "Thousands flee..." I couldn't flee. I was trapped in a five star hotel in Richmond, Virginia, September 16, 2003, with Hurricane Isabel bearing down on us like 200 elephants on the last peanut on earth. Mid-afternoon when the Weather Channel drew their big arrow from the eye straight over my hotel, I had two bellmen move me from the top floor to the first. All I had was a hangin' bag and the free soap from my room, but they insisted on helping. In deference to the overworked staff I chose to forgo my usual room service and took my meal in the bar. I ordered the capriccio of baby artichoke with carrot jam, roasted rabbit loin rillette with Yukon gold potato and black truffle hash, with red lobster seafood mousse and a clam tart, Miracle Whip and Tabasco on the side. Outside rain attacked from the air and winds reached 72 mph. I had just deposited my Copenhagen in the potted plant when the power went out. It was like being in a submarine with dead batteries. Emergency lights cast an eerie yellow glow in the catacombs. My waitress had to hold a Coleman lantern over me as I dined. The concierge walked me to my room after supper through the dimly lit corridors. A nocturnal maid had attempted to turn down my bed and deposit mints on the pillow. I mistook the mints for my Walkman earphones and spent ten minutes trying to adjust the sound on my electric razor. To find my Maalox pills I had to open the door and dig through my dop kit in the wedge of light furnished by the open hall door. Next morning I brushed my teeth with triple antibiotic ointment, got a rent car from Paulette, fought my way through downed trees, power lines, flooded streets, took at least six wrong turns and became one of the fleeing thousands. It took me back to the last time I was trapped in a hotel. Nance County, Fullerton, Nebraska 1983, February. I had finished entertaining the Cattlemen's Association and walked outside to find a blizzard raging! In my 2-wheel drive rented 4-door Plymouth Belvedere I sidled and slid my way to the only overnight accommodation. It was modeled in the pre-modern motif, two singlewides butted end to end. I had my choice, I was the only guest. I took the one where the lights worked. The wind whistled through the seams and rocked the trailer like Captain Ahab in The Perfect Storm. There was an electric wall heater the size of a toaster. Between it and my body heat I managed to keep the permafrost limited to the opposite windows and the bathroom floor. I can't say which was worse to get through, the hurricane or blizzard but, oddly enough, I remember the morning after both nights the sky was brilliant blue and the sun was shining. However, in retrospect, the room service was better in Richmond.
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