June 24, 2019

Of all the weekends to have our 10-year-old granddaughter and her two dogs stay with us, it was when three wicked storms barreled through Hillman Ferry with pouring rain and scary high winds. ‘Scary’ because we are surrounded by a lot of very tall trees. Being in a motor home in a storm definitely jacks up my anxiety level.

Rain had threatened almost every day last week, so Friday’s forecast of possible heavy showers wasn’t about to stop campers, many of whom were already jockeying for their 4th of July sites. By mid-afternoon, the only camp sites left were those for tents.

It was early Friday evening when the first round of storms hit and before it was over, all of the power in the campground was out. Trees all over the campground were down. One took out the awning of an RV and trashed a vehicle, but there weren’t any injuries, thank God. By Saturday morning, the staff was told the campground also didn’t have water or sewer.

A nearly full campground with 374 sites and no utilities is not a pretty sight. Bathrooms and showers were locked. The outpost was only open to customers—one at a time—who had exact cash…and even so, the purchased items had to be retrieved by one employee while another stood at the door, not allowing anyone in.

In every sense, it was an emergency situation. No water, no electricity. Hundreds of people. Most were dealing with it as best they could, but there were a few who came close to verbally abusing us who worked at the gatehouse, the only entrance to and exit from the campground.

We didn’t have the answer to their most pressing questions: “When’s the power coming back on?” And “can I get a refund?” In fact, we didn’t have answers to many other questions either, which made working Saturday very frustrating.

More than one person vented their anger by insinuating that we (meaning the forestry service, I guess) should be able to manage a situation as dire as this. I even walked away from one camper who just wouldn’t let it go, and I don’t ordinarily do something like that. I was grateful there wasn’t a bubble above my head filled with what I was thinking and wished I could say.

I love my job, but I couldn’t wait to go home Saturday! All the plans I had with our granddaughter were shelved because all of LBL was shut down. In fact, much of the area surrounding LBL had been affected, some places much worse. We couldn’t even go hiking. So what did we do? We played cards!

I taught her how play solitaire, a game she’d played before on the phone app, but didn’t really understand because the moves are virtually done automatically.

It was pure joy to see her “get it,” to not only see the pattern of red/black/red/black, but to realize when plays could be made. Losing didn’t deter her in the least; she played over and over, the hang of it getting easier and easier.

Sometimes the monotony would be broken with a few rounds of blackjack, which she loved! (Maybe too much?😄) And I also taught her to play 2-player solitaire. Her card shuffling gained finesse, and her basic knowledge of cards expanded. I thought of how my mom—her great-grandmother—was probably smiling down on her from heaven. She was quite a card shark and would’ve gotten a kick out of Maeby.

I was raised playing card games of one kind or another, and I think it’s a life skill everyone can benefit from. Aside from passing the time, with a deck of cards, one can entertain oneself, as well as others. Some people even earn their livelihoods with playing cards, though I’ll not tell my granddaughter about that just yet.

The rain may have ruined other people’s plans, but Maeby and I had a great weekend. I think it’ll be one she’ll remember for a long time. Especially when she sees these:😃