The week after Christmas was devoted to skiing. We went to the same ski area as usual, but stayed in a different pension, more centrally located. Beta timed us the first night when we walked to the Kirchenwirt, the inn across the street from the church, where we usually eat. It took us 15 seconds to get there.
Not only that: although we took the ski bus to the lifts, we were able to ski right up to our pension on our way back. I have dreamed of doing that ever since reading about Hemingway doing that on his stays in Tyrol or somewhere. So basically, I had a Hemingway ski trip this winter, if Hemingway had spent his time skiing behind an 8-year old girl. And had drunk less. Quite a bit less, in fact, because he was afraid of falling down too much if he got drunk while skiing.
The weather was perfect. Lots of good, powdery snow. Nice and cold. Trees all thickly flocked in the white. Didn’t even fall down the first day. Not until we were on our way home, anyhow. By then I was tired. I didn’t feel tired, but I could tell I was because I began to crash a lot.
Even though we spent some time in the lodge, eating and stuff.
The second day it was foggy so we went swimming at a water-slide place. Aquapulco, it was called, but Gamma called it Apocapulco. That’s my girl.
If you’re new here, Gamma is the 8-year old.
Happy New Year, by the way.
Evenings we spent fighting over the remote control device and jockeying for position on the couch.
When Beta had the remote, we watched MTV, at least part of the time. I was a bit worried when Rammstein came on, because it was visually impressive and included a monk-type fellow stabbing someone to death, and several shirtless flagellants (as opposed to flagellates which are something biological) scourging themselves vigorously and in time with the music.
“Papa,” Gamma said once the video had finished, “can you get me a copy of this?”
The third day of skiing was the coldest, so we went into the lodge earlier in the day, to make sure we got a table because it’s no fun to lurk around in the lodge looking for a corner to rest in.
We had a good family ski trip. We fought and bickered quite a bit, because we have been doing that this holiday season, but the external conditions couldn’t have been better, is what I’m saying. The landscape was quite marvelous. My wife led us around the slopes with calm expertise, and the snow was good with very little ice. I got in a few nice chats with Beta on the ski lifts. We had a good time. But it’s nice to be back.