Alright, listen up. I’ve got big plans for Valentine’s
Day weekend, plans that will be severely inconvenienced if this Snowmageddon
materializes. I don’t ask much of the weather. When winter comes I expect it to
be cold and miserable with a lot of cold rain and yes, even the occasional snow
storm. But when I hear weather people throwing out words like “historic” and “massive”
I become concerned.
See, I came up with this epic plan to take Pam to
Staunton after school on Friday for the weekend. There’s this awesome Inn
called the Frederick House, dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant called
Aioli, then Shakespeare’s “As You
Like It” at the Blackfriars playhouse after dinner. I’ve got it all planned
out. So, this snow thing will just have to wait. Don’t you see?
The best part is, once we get to Staunton,
everything is within walking distance of the Inn. The problem will be driving
from Richmond to Staunton, a distance of 108 miles, through what is predicted
to be anywhere between 4 and 30 inches of snow. I’m not kidding. Our intrepid
weather forecasters are sick and tired of being so embarrassingly wrong all the
time, so this time they have all decided to cast a wide net. Yes, somewhere
between 4 and 30 inches should cover it gentlemen. Thanks for the heads up!
It’s Valentine’s Day, and this year will be the 30th
time I have celebrated it with Pam. This is no small thing. 30 years is a long
time and worthy of grand gestures. So, I am bound and determined to do this
thing. It will be an adventure, much like our 30 years together. Will we make
it there in time for our dinner reservation? How many 360’s will we do before
we make it to Charlottesville? Will we make it over Afton Mountain? If I wrap
the Cadillac around a tree will Pam insist on a divorce? If we do make it there
in one piece will Pam be so traumatized by the trip that I end up sleeping on
the couch?
It was the pioneer spirit of adventure that built
this great country. Well, sometimes we have to channel our inner pioneer. The results
of such courage are the stuff of which great memories are made.
I got this.
