Life in Ludlow: Weather and wine

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All of last week’s optimism about the coming of spring retreated due to an attack of returning snow, rain and cold air. At least when it snows up in Swansonville, the drive through the forest on the west side of the hill becomes idyllic.

On the subject of Swansonville, Bob Hobart, known in some circles as “The Mayor of Swansonville,” joined our foreign exchange student, Pang, and me with his truck on the Saturday before Presidents Day. In spite of the rain, we installed our portion of the 273 U.S. flags on display in Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock and Chimacum in celebration of the holiday.

Generally, the Presidents Day weekend poses the most risk for the East Jefferson Rotarians and the flags, as the wind blows the flags down and the rain delays picking them up on time. A few years ago, we even lost 13 to folks who thought the flags must be free for the taking, so they absconded with them. After some publicity on Facebook, in this column and on the TV news in Seattle, the flags were actually returned. In addition, an anonymous donor had donated enough money to cover the cost of replacing the flags. Now there is a scam rivaling the potential returns from the business partnership you established with a Nigerian prince over the internet!

We enjoyed dinner with Bob and Robin King last weekend and discovered they did not have a subscription to The Leader. They were duly warned that there was a risk that their names could appear in this space. They committed to getting a subscription.

The Ludlow Maintenance Commission (LMC) held a well-attended wine and cheese tasting for members last week. The new North Bay emergency team coordinator, Ginny Munger, was in attendance to talk about emergency preparedness for Port Ludlow. She is a fairly new resident of the area and even though she claimed to be providing information to the “Voice,” she had not heard of either this column, or The Leader. Can you imagine? She is looking for volunteers to help out, and you can contact her at 360-731-1225 or

rapunzelgm@comcast.net.

How about that, I may have generated the Kings and Ginny as new subscribers to The Leader. (Note to management: Raise the advertising rates.)

Pang is from Thailand, so her exposure to snow started here this winter. TJ Plastow and her family took Pang to Hurricane Ridge to play in the snow several weeks ago, and we took her to Stevens Pass with the rest of our family to ski over Presidents Day. She took the “First Timers” class and may not be ready for the grand slalom on the ski tour yet, but she did enjoy the experience. We also went over to the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club, where she and our grandsons enjoyed “tubing” down the hill.

Finally, a bit of sarcastic Zen advice for you: “Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.”

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!

(Contact Port Ludlow resident Ned Luce at

nedluce@sbcglobal.net.)