snow day, cont.

To me, the photo in the last post was interesting--artsy and aesthetically poignant--and stood alone on its merits. But y'all apparently didn't like it. (Ok, only two people said something, but both comments were negative--Stephanie said it made her eyes hurt, Eric accused me of deception. Pshaw.) So, for those of you that prefer a crisp and pancake ugly view of reality, I provide the following (first series courtesy of Valerie, the later set courtesy of iPhone):


(Since I know someone will wonder, the girl in the first photo is not one of my kids, but I'd take her, if she were available. Speaking of my kids, however, I love that this sort of thing--packing up skis on back for a bike ride on roads of questionable condition--doesn't phase my girls in the least. Audrey saw me with my bike and asked me if I was going for a ride. I said yes. Marian saw me with skis and asked me if I was going skiing. I said yes. It wasn't until I had it all together that they figured it out. They looked on in polite interest. They found what I was doing unusual, but not in an unexpected way. In their world, this is what men do. If in nothing else, in this I have succeeded as a father.)

I was hopeful that I might locate a slope suitable for making a few turns, but I didn't. Well, I skinned up a few likely suspects, but the woods debris (e.g. stumps, fallen logs, underbrush) was too often just under the surface...I figured it'd be like winning the lottery if I came away without a broken leg, and I didn't want to press my luck. Especially skiing alone. So I didn't really get to make any turns at all.

All the same, it was a delightful afternoon. There is a magic serenity to the snow-covered woods that is unduplicated in all of nature--it gives me such saudades of the West. And when making fresh tracks, there's the undeniable reality that you are all alone. Very, very alone. Which, if you allow it, can be an immensely satisfying spiritual experience.

But then again, I wasn't really alone. There were critters about. I saw deer tracks, bunny tracks, and the furrowed tracks of two other animals that could have been fox (or bobcat) and coyote, but might have been something else about that size. So I wasn't really alone after all.

I look forward to another excursion after this next snowfall. I could live on a pair of skis.