CERT Training – Buzzard Rock, Eagle Point, and Devil’s Elbow – Biden’s first press conference – Evening statistics
I came back from CERT training at 10:00 last night and was too tired to record the events of the day, which, for that matter, were not numerous. The training itself was interesting. We practiced search and rescue techniques, including carrying one of the trainers lying supine on a sheet down two flights of stairs. Considering that it was the first time for most of us, we did reasonably well. The trainer deliberately kept her eyes closed while she was being lifted and carried, and she said afterwards that she was hardly tilted at all and was unable to tell at any given moment whether she was being carried down the stairs or along flat ground. It is not easy, in a narrow stairwell, to negotiate a litter with three people holding it up on each side and a seventh person in back to stabilize the victim’s head. By sheer accident my position was at the end where her feet were resting, which meant that I and one other person were the first to descend the stairs in semi-darkness. Even though another member of the class was in front to direct us, my experiences in hiking proved to be useful in such a situation, as it made me accustomed to walking on uneven surfaces and to looking downwards periodically in order to maintain my footing.
I can’t say that I feel a great deal of confidence about my abilities to be of use if a disaster should happen to strike the area, but at any rate I now have some idea of the tasks that need to be done and how to go about participating in them. The final training session will occur on Saturday, when the class will assemble at the “Workhouse” (a former prison facility that has been converted into a group of artists’ studios) in Lorton and undergo a four-hour simulation of an emergency situation to test whether we can effectively put into practice the techniques we’ve been learning this past month.
I went with RS today to explore a route from his new place, which is located behind the foothills that line the Virginia bank of the Potomac River slightly east of Harpers Ferry. We went up to the ridgeline, where we struck an unofficial trail to Buzzard Rock (not to be confused with the rock formation of the same name in the Massanuttens), a rounded boulder on top of a rock outcropping. The fog in the morning was too thick to see much there, but when we went on to Eagle Point – where, even though it was also on a trail that is unofficial and sporadically maintained, features a bench for the convenience of the viewers. The views there are somewhat too far to the east to see a good deal of Harpers Ferry; the view features the town of Sandy Hook on the Maryland bank, the Rte. 340 bridge, and an unnamed islet just east of the bridge. From there we descended to the river bank, which was difficult: there were no defined trails and the gradient was very steep. Once we came to the bank, however, we went on another unofficial trail, but one that has been maintained somewhat more carefully. We went to Devil’s Elbow, a rock field located at a bend in the river and then back up a few hundred feet to an unnamed overlook not far from the house. As the description indicates, this hike reached viewpoints and landmarks not accessible by hiking on regular trails. This meant, of course, that for many portions of the hike we could not go very quickly, particularly when ascending or descending The distance we covered was perhaps no more than eight miles, but it was a significant exertion nonetheless – well worth the effort, however.
On account of the hike I returned home too late to see Biden’s first press conference since he took office. It’s impossible to access it from the reports: predictably, all of the pro-Democrat sources say that he acquitted himself well and all of the pro-Republican sources say that he did not. Fox News in particular called him out on what in their estimation is the gravest of shortcomings in a Presidential speaker: he referred to notes while delivering his answers, thereby contrasting with the famously unscripted responses of his predecessor. It would seem that Biden wishes to be certain of the facts before replying to a question, but perhaps he can silence such critics by renouncing this pernicious habit and giving hasty, ill-considered answers instead. Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 126,044,068; # of deaths worldwide: 2,766,595; # of cases U.S.: 30,771,687; # of deaths; U.S.: 559,727.