Published: October 12, 2008 09:33 pm            

VALLEY: Closing the camp, part two

This is part two of a diary written while I was spending some time on the river. I was there to close the camp for the winter. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had started the process by taking some seasonal items out and securing things that needed securing.

This trip — which I took alone — is the final stage and entailed end-of-the-year procedures such as jacking the camp to a level status, if and where sagging had occurred, and addressing the camp’s vital systems. This meant turning off the electricity and going through the process of disconnecting and winterizing the water lines. Being a first-year owner, I wasn’t quite sure how to do that and my brother-in-law was going to stop by to show me the intricacies. We’d wait to turn the water off last — as I’d obviously need it while I was there.

I’m finding out that there’s much more to it than just flipping a switch. It’s a labor-intensive process but a necessary one. And as long as I was there, my plan was to intermingle the work with some fishing and golf, weather permitting.

I arrived on a Friday afternoon. Last week’s column took the diary from that point through Sunday. And with that preface in place, I will now continue the daily log.

n Monday, Day Four: It got cold last night. And knowing that the camp is not equipped with a heating system (and being the genius that I am), I brought along an electric heater. Unfortunately, that piece of crap threw off about as much heat as a lightning bug. I woke up colder than a nudist at a Green Bay Packers’ game.

My brother called me a little while ago and said he was going join me tonight to watch Monday night football. He asked if he should bring anything. I told him to bring a wood-burning stove, a cord of wood and a pizza.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Yeah! Bring a television, too.”

I’m starting to wonder if it was a good idea to come here this late in the season.

n Tuesday, Day Five: Day five? That’s it? Seems like I’ve been here since 1962. Today, I worked on a carpentry project by building a box to cover the unsightly water pump on the outside of the camp.

The good news is that I had plenty wood on hand for the project. The bad news is that I had plenty on both hands when I was finished as I ended up with about three dozen slivers.

This place is starting to get on my nerves. I can’t stand being here any longer.

n Wednesday, Day Six: Today was a great day. The weather was terrific and I got to play golf with my two brothers. It made up for a lot of the misery that I’ve been going through since I got here. It was great — my whole perspective has changed. The weather forecast is for unseasonably warm days ahead. I’m starting to like this place again. Perhaps I’ll stay longer than planned to take advantage of the nice weather.

When I got back from golf, I realized that I’d missed my brother-in-law. He’d come and gone while I was out. I came to this conclusion right after I jumped into the shower and discovered I had no water. Another wonderful day at the office. This place sucks.

n Thursday, Day Seven: I’m cheating! It’s really still day six, but I know exactly what I’m going to do tomorrow: I’m getting the hell out of here!

And that’s the way it looks from the Valley.

Tom Valley is a Medina resident. His column runs every Thursday. Write to Tvalley@rochester.rr.com.

        

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