America's Best

There's something about simply crossing the border that can bring a smile to me and that is the ancient art of rural mail delivery. We came across south of Creston and the first thing I noticed stateside was a fellow driving along delivering the mail - it's so wonderfully quaint! I think Canada has done its citizens a disservice by cutting it out, but in SK it hadn't been happening for decades. The rural mailbox at the end of lane has such charm; a superbox on the side of the road near Kootenay Lake has none of it!

Simplicity

I've been out on the back country skis a couple of times this season, but most of the time it's a matter of putting on the cross-country gear or wearing snowshoes. I've got to say that I love the simplicity of the "light" skis and the snowshoes. There's a couple of things to load into the car, about 2 minutes of equipment attire to put on, and you're off. On Dec. 29th, we skied with the "heavy" skis and not using the skidoo did make the procedure pretty simple. I was afraid to ski the cutblock because there wasn't a ton of snow on it, but Andrea and Demitri sure make it look easy! I chose to keep walking up the FS road and enjoyed the ski down in deep enough powder to keep easy control. Every time I go out with only a small amount of equipment, I reflect on how much I enjoy the simpler experience without a lot of extra gear. The snow here is pretty good because the colder weather has made it light and fluffy. The walks through the woods are wintery and exquisite.

The Best Gifts

To my mind, the very best gifts are those that are surprises! I received this tea cosy on Christmas night, but it had been made many weeks prior to "the season" and was acquired by a friend of mine who just thought I "had" to have it - it is "me", isn't it? This wonderful creation was made by Carol Koenig - what a marvelous talent she has for making crafty things. The friend who gave this to me is the same one who purchased the Polish clothespins so I'm very glad she was recognized the theme in my blog and in my life! Thank you, Effie and Carol - this tea cosy makes me smile every time I walk into the kitchen.

Shopping Local

This year, I decided to "shop local" for everything. It took me about 45 minutes to do my shopping. I know that a couple of the vendors (the guy who owns the rare and second hand bookstore) appreciated my business. And the biggest surprise was that Dave actually liked what I bought him and has asked for more "supplies" of a similar nature. He received a chainsaw carrying case - pretty bad on the environment (using a chainsaw and the case is made from very hard plastic) - but will be good for protecting the chainsaw which we should carry every time we drive up a FS road - there's usually a tree down somewhere along the trail. The goodies in the stocking were as good as you'd get anywhere and I sure wish I could remember where I'd hidden a couple of the bags! I'll report later on what Andrea and Demitri think of "local" gifts. Happy Christmas, everyone!

Walking In Woods On A Snowy Evening

Yesterday was the day that the Kaslo Trail Blazers "light up" the trail bridge across the Kaslo River. It gets dark early here so at about 4 - 4:30 p.m. we parade along the river trail with a lantern, happily made by a 2008 grade 3 student! At 5 p.m., the Christmas lights which have been strung along the roof of the bridge are put into operation - it is really quite lovely. This year, we'd had a good snowfall with relatively cool temperatures, to make our snow light and fluffy. It was a gorgeous walk through the forest, listening to the Kaslo River, observing the heavily-laden trees covered in snow, and watching flickering lantern lights along the trail. Happy Solstice, Readers!

First AT

Yesterday I got out for my first day alpine touring - you can see we had a stunning blue sky day. We've waited a couple of weeks for one of these. The snow conditions were excellent, although we could use more of the white stuff. I'm still making my big stem christie turns, but I have managed to get down the slopes and feel more confident with all the lumps and bumps which we know are tree stumps and rocks underneath that snow! I got to do the "ski out" and I wasn't too far from the ski-doo when I saw big, loping animal tracks through the snow - they certainly weren't there on our way up. The tracks stopped abruptly under a tree. I looked up, fully expecting to see a cougar ready to pounce. I didn't! However, something did get killed at the base of that tree and I'm not sure where the predator went. I'm simply glad that I didn't become the prey. Thanks, Dave, for a beautiful day in the mountains.

Going Out to Play

Yesterday morning I heard a fair bit of grumbling from Dave about needing to get the driveway cleared by 9 a.m. - after all, nobody had to get to work. That's true. However, what is more important is that someone had to go out to play!! We had a big dump of very wet, heavy snow on Wednesday morning, but 5 brave women showed up for Wednesday Walkers and we had our skis. Most of us ended up skiing from just above town up to the airport because the roads weren't plowed and we didn't want to get stuck - skis are perfect for those road conditions. Things are melting today and I notice that Dave is leaving the house to go out to play (it's 8 a.m.) in the snow at Idaho Peak. Good thing the driveway is cleared and we got rain last night so lots of the snow is melting! We retired folk are up early and have the chores done - it's time to play once again.