Surface Mining

As we took off from Buffalo International Airport yesterday, my nose was, as usual, pressed against the hard plastic of the tiny double-pane window. I love the bird's eye perspective that flying allows. Unfortunately, it was only a couple of minutes before we ascended into the clouds and then broke into the blue skies and sunshine above, which was welcome in its own way to be sure, but there was not much to see below us.

A little while later I checked again and there was a clear view of the ground. The first thing I noticed  was that there was very little snow. I was on the port side of the plane and so I knew I was looking east. I also had a pretty good idea about the straightest route from BFO to ATL, and so I guessed we were somewhere over Pennsylvania. The long north-south ridges rising like so many pleats in a giant green cloth sort of confirmed it for me, and I looked eagerly ahead for western Maryland and possibly even a peek at the Blue Ridge Mountains in my home state.

As we flew steadily south, there was still no snow, even on the highest of mountains, which wasn't really that surprising given the record-setting warm snap we had just been through. I scanned the landscape ahead for any sort of familiar landmarks, and some patches of white caught my eye in the distance. 

Snow? It didn't look like it, and there were no trees. I gasped when I realized what I was seeing. All around there were whole mountains with their tops completely cut off. I sat, stunned, for a moment, and then I knew where we were. We were flying over Appalachia, West Virginia to be exact.

I had heard about mountain top mining, the practice of extracting coal by blowing the land over the seams away, and it certainly seemed like a bad idea, but until that moment it was all an abstraction for me. 

Now I know: 

Guys! 

They

Are

Blowing

The

Tops

Off

Mountains! 

Why is that allowed?

Holiday Musical Chairs

The flight from Buffalo to Atlanta this Christmas Day was packed, and the stream of passengers filing past our seats seemed endless. When we first boarded the man right in front of us was talking to his wife in Punjabi, but now as the last passenger slung several duffels into the overhead compartment above that seat, she was nowhere to be seen.

Before sitting down, the guy took a few things from some kids sitting a couple of rows back and stowed them with his stuff. "I'll be right up here guys," he said as he took the seat next to the Sikh gentleman in front of us.

The young man sitting next to the boys jumped up immediately. "Sir, I would be happy to change seats with you if you'd like."

The exchange was made in quick order, and the grateful dad leaned across the aisle and explained the kindness to his wife, who happened to be sitting next to the Sikh lady. She suggested one more switch, and the young man gladly got up and moved again so that everyone was sitting together.

That's the spirit.

Count on Buffalo

And...

cue the snow:

Merry Christmas everyone!

Essential Switch

Perhaps I posted too soon yesterday. Not ten minutes after I hit Publish, the generator whined to a stop, abandoning us in the midwinter murk of 3 PM. I was the first to notice that the other half of the house was powered on, the "non-essentials," but the limited power we had been enjoying, boasting about even, had vanished.

Of course we adapted. Bright lights flooded the rooms that had been abandoned all day, and baking became a possibility, although we had to move lamps into the kitchen to cook. It didn't take long for us to miss the heat, though, and we were relieved when the electrician agreed to come out on a Sunday.

The problem was a tiny spring. Meant to flip the switch from generator to utility, there wasn't enough bounce in the coil to do so, and so while the generator shut down because there was power, those so-called essential circuits stayed stayed closed, waiting for their very own generator juice.

The electrician was able to reset the power so that the whole house was humming, and should there be another outage, the generator will kick on. Once the power's back, though, the essentials will be shut down again, all for the want of a wee bit of spring in the winter...

(which, is under warranty and should be repaired by Friday.)

Some Say in Ice

I confess that I only listened with half an ear at Thanksgiving to Heidi's dad telling me all about the new generator they bought. I caught something about expensive rewiring and an upgrade to the main panel, and I thought it was interesting that it runs on the natural gas already piped into their home.

This morning the details became much more relevant to me. We knew something was wrong when the overhead lights in our room wouldn't work. The wall outlets were fine, though. Once upstairs, we saw a world encased in ice and heard a steady droning out in the yard.

It didn't take long to figure out that the circuits had been prioritized for the generator-- not everything was on, but the refrigerators, the heat, the hot water, the sump pump, and the internet (yes!) were all operational. It took a bit of trial and error and an extension cord or two, but soon I made coffee and sat at the table admiring the treacherous beauty glistening just outside the windows.

Six hours later, the ice is mostly melted, but the power is still out with not even an estimated time frame for restoration. The generator is humming away, though, we're all safe and warm, and it's nowhere near the end of the world.

Clean Finish

It is a lovely tradition to bring a host or hostess gift to a household when visiting. Likewise, it is exceptionally thoughtful to bring back a small token of appreciation to the folks who have fed your cat, watered your plants, picked up your mail, etc., while you were away.

Over the years we have both given and received many such niceties-- wine, cocktail napkins, candles, flowers, and so forth, but a few years ago, I realized that we had accumulated quite a stockpile of soap as a result of this practice. At that point, we must have had well over a dozen bars of very high quality, artisanal soaps of so many shapes and fragrances that we were running out of places to keep them. It was on that day that I vowed never to buy another bar of soap until we had used up every single one we already owned.

I have been fastidious in my determination to use that soap, but it hasn't been easy. In addition to sheer quantity, the fact is that far from being some fast-dissolving down-the-drain detergent, that kind of soap is made to last. Some bars have literally lingered for months in the shower, even with daily use. 

Today as we prepared for our trip to Buffalo, I asked Heidi to grab a new bar rather than pack the wet one that is currently in use, but much to our astonishment there was none to grab; we had finally exhausted our soap supply.

What will we ever do without it?

Holiday Swag

Our school system is considering imposing a limit on teacher gifts. The current proposal will set a cap at one hundred dollars per family, per teacher, per year.

I have to laugh at that. I have written before about the disparity in socioeconomic status in our tiny county, and I have also explained that our school lies on the boundary of million dollar homes and affordable housing, drawing from both types of neighborhoods. I have certainly received my fair share of gifts over the years, and I treasure the appreciation they have expressed, but nothing has ever come close to a hundred bucks. (It's fair to point out that the same can not be said for some teachers at other schools in our district.)

Just today, the assortment of wrapped packages and cards on my desk drew many envious comments from students, and I laughed and shrugged them off for what they were-- the wishes of children at Christmas. At the end of the day, when everything was unwrapped, logged for thank-you notes, and packed neatly into a bag to take home, I had received a candy cane, a loaf of pumpkin bread, hand lotion, shower gel, hot cocoa mix, scented soap, four chocolates, a jolly rancher, and a Starbucks card.

Actual value? Thirty dollars?

(You know what's coming next...)

Making meaningful connections with kids and families every day? Priceless.