Tuesday

Yesterday morning we left Kentucky for Falls Church and our new District Metropolitan Area home. We'd mostly packed our stuff up into the car Sunday, leaving only our day-bags and high-priced computer technology in the warm farmhouse overnight. Right before bed I noticed that since I'd let the dog inside a half-hour before, clouds had covered the stars and a fine sand of dry ice was howling from the sky. I went to bed concerned about the coming drive. Later. several hours earlier than I'm used to waking up, I looked out the window: it was sunny and clear. I showered, drank a cup of coffee, and ticked-off the last packing details. On the porch it was eight degrees, and the previous night's weather was all piled along the switchback mountain roads. The wind was still howling. Loading the computer technology into the car made the hollow parts in my head chap. The battery had gone dead overnight; the car had been jumped. The heater was slowly warming its sheets of ice. Even so, we were on the road by ten. It was cold enough outside that the wind froze the inside of the window panes. Although the heater was enough to roast us, it was unable to melt the frosting humidity accumulating inside the car. Mostly, the swervy roads looked clear when I could see them. Just before Cumberland, Maryland the snow on the low shoulders vanished without a trace, but there was no time when the temperature rose above twenty degrees. We finally arrived, newly home, at six thirty, after only eight-and-a-half tedious, half-blind, boiling, jammed upright hours driving the back-ends of West Virginia and Maryland. It was about ten degrees in DC. We made record time moving-in, inhaling good Vietnamese food, and going to bed. [Cavin]