Bad Blogger!

Writing is hard. Partially because it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to sit down at a computer and not wander over to the internet to do your Christmas shopping, and when you live in a beautiful place like Sun Valley that enjoys an Indian summer in the beginning of November, followed by seven feet of snow at the end of the same month, it REALLY takes discipline. And then, like all writers, you wonder if what you have to say will be of any interest to anyone or if, without realizing it, you have become one of those oversharing bad over-messaging people that lets you  know way more than you want to about their vacations, their beautiful children and their likes and dislikes. My friend John says post more on that blog of yours, just write less.” Rich wonders how he  could have come all the way out here and not gotten a mention (there you go, Rich!) Well, as I say to my kids far too frequently, “I’m doing my best,” which actually means something between “layoff, it’s all I’ve got right now” and “I’m guessing as I go.” So here it is, an overdue post:

Since we got back from Thanksgiving break it’s been all about snow. Five feet in the last week, to be exact. And the great thing is hardly any down here in town, so we are not dealing with the shoveling and the slipping and moving tons of heavy white stuff around. Last weekend it dumped all weekend on the mountain and was driving rain down here. It takes some serious motivation to walk through pouring rain carrying all your ski equipment to get in the mood to ski…but it’s an awesome experience to rise up just a few hundred feet in the gondola and find that a winter wonderland is just minutes above you in the clouds.

Whitney has started ski team and the rest of us have gotten out a bunch after school and this weekend (Luke has made the trek to Salmon, Idaho-aka coldest place on earth-to play in an outdoor hockey tournament. He just texted that “we won, he scored and he’s having fun in the back of a truck.” ) Sports are under way and while we are enjoying reasonable practice schedules, we are also beginning to embark on treks to places like Dietrich, Idaho Falls and Gooding, Idaho. (Next weekend there’s a tournament in Jackson Hole, definitely the favorite of the hockey destinations, but for sure my least favorite mountain pass.) Travel  to and fro is definitely tough. We’ve studded our snow tires and hooked up the fuzz buster, having officially gigged out the gasguzzler 70s style! We’ve had some difficult travel experiences lately. Like all good things in life, you gotta work hard for them, and getting to Sun Valley in the winter is no exception. It’s what makes this place so darn charming and quaint, but it’s a challenge. The on-going discussion is to expand the airport  to let larger, more reliable planes in, or not? We’re not holding our breath on this long-debated topic–just hopping in the car and doing the 150 mile drive to Boise because it’s better than getting bussed Twin Falls when your plane gets snowed out. Had a hairy trip this week passing through desert snow and over the foggiest mountain pass I hope I ever can’t see, followed by the full-on sprint through the airport. (We’re four for four on doing the ol’ OJ Simpson to our gate—the worst!) I guess we’ve been using our luck with the deer and elk, and so far our car has been spared. I may need to get Ross the grill guard for Christmas, because chances are our like will probably run out in that department. They are the most dangerous part of these drives!  For now, we’re deferring to local wisdom on the best travel routes and finding that when there’s seven feet of snow, the best place to be is on top of Baldy!