well it was pretty cold on the mountains today at whistler and blackcomb. it was -20 C and with wind too. the snow was thin and terrain was limited. in spite of it all (including 20 minutes on a chairlift that stopped), it has been really fun. i found powder on some off piste trails and along the edges of the open trails. there are friendly people here and a real party spirit. i haven't been around the whole apres ski thing for a while. people from all of the former english colonies seem to have come here for the weekend. i guess we, in vermont, were an english colony too. wow, i guess i was with kindred spirits and the party following rebellion and liberation continues here. i think i will go back to the bar and buy a round for my new found mates and we will raise a glass to our liberation from victorian oppression, tea, and scones. i hit the road early in the morning and will drive five hours to seattle. then i start my three day journey home. it has been a long time out on the road, but it has had some very good moments. the high desert in new mexico was special. i see why georgia o'keefe dug it there. be good, have fun.

My God Richard, that all sounds exhausting. I like to travel but not like that for sure. How do you stand it.

We are iced in here also. The trees are beautiful but there are many branches down. Power outages like in VT but it's slushy on the roads as the temp. is rising it's "just" raining now. I think I won't go out though I have a water exercise class at 11:30. I have a little wrapping I could do like you Kathi and there's always the ongoing UNPACKING. Dave keeps reminding me that we haven't been moved as long I think and it's OK that we aren't able to find anything. It's driving me crazy.

You are lucky to be away from the Snow and ICE, ICE, ICE. Everywhere is closed today because of the weather. Trees down...luckily we have power here. It took Neil a hour and 20 minutes to drive to Brattleboro...now he is driving in MA where it is mostly raining.
So what to do on a snow day...hummmm....baking, wrap presents....I think it will be a good day!
Travel safely Richard....be careful snowboarding....got to watch out for those "old" Vermont bones.

hi. i am on a bit of a walkabout. over the last couple of weeks i have been in huntington beach, tempe, oakland, san jose, albuquerque, santa fe, portland, seattle, vancouver, and victoria. the funny thing is that my flight from santa fe to portland also stopped in san diego and reno. hey, that is nuts. the outcomes have been good. the prospects of remaining employed are always a concern and i am doing some high stepping these days to be walkin' fo' da' cake. saturday will be cool running at whistler. i will be snowboarding and the jamaican bobsled team will also be arriving in whistler this weekend for training in preparation for the next winter olympic games. sunday, i am off to chicago, madison, champagne, and home for a day. then i go to providence, boston and i am back to burlington for the holidays. i find it all a little odd that a person would travel as much as i am traveling. when is someone going to figure out that "beam me up, scottie" thing?

Yes, I think it is an especially friendly place! And I'm glad we're all still in touch.

Well Lori, I may not have been one of those guys, but I still liked you. Spfld. was one of those rare and wonderful towns where you can move away, (end of grade 5 and move back0; start of grade 6 and find your friends are still your friends. And here we all still are all these many years later. We're a lucky group!

Yes, those East School years were good, weren't they? I think 5th and 6th grade were 2 of my best years. I liked a lot of boys, not just Brian. There was also Chris Daniels, Ricky Vogel, and Dickie (not Richard!) Loveless. I was so mad that my family moved away after 6th grade. The next 2 years were downhill for me. Things only got better when we returned to Springfield in 9th grade, but by then everything had changed and none of those guys liked me anymore!

Patti, that's good you found someone from P.I. living nearby. I think it gets a little harder to make close friends when we get older, but I'm still in touch with friends from all different periods in my life--high school, college, Israel, and the ones in L.A. of course. Karen and Richard (and Brian) go back to grade school years. Wow, that's a long time! One of my best friends here in L.A. is 87. I can talk to her about everything. She's like a mentor to me.

Oh my goodness kathi,what a memory you just evoked! Way back in high school those young ladies who were involved in Jr Miss went to the Hartness House one afternoon to be interviewed by the judges and that was a question that everyone was asked! Something about how many best friends do you have and the importance of it being the count of one hand's fingers. Oh my goodness. I'm amazed your remarked brought that back to me. Of course my fondest memory of that day is that I had a head on collision with Mike Graham on one of the corners going up the hill to the Inn on my way to the interview!

My friend Barb and I did all the cooking...the whole idea was to make it a nonstress night for everyone at school...with all the construction, etc...we never see each other to talk. So, it was a nice time for them. I had fun, too....
I think sometimes all we have in common with others are our life circumstances...like school and friends with kids parents...work..friends with those we work with...high school friends...we don't always get to stay friends w ith all of them! I always feel your "real" friends stay friends no matter what. You are suppose to count on one hand the number of "real" friends you have..

wow that's a long time Karen, Congratulations to them!

Kathi, I can't believe you cooked so much for your party that's amazing. Did people bring something also?

I went to lunch today with an old friend from back in P.I. We were friends through our sons way back when they were in school in town. Over time as our kids separated so did we. Why do we do that I wonder. Is our children the only thing we have in common with people? Some probably and in others much more I'm sure. Excuse me i'm just have a little conversation here with myself. So anyway, I found out she and her family were living in a neighboring town, called her up and we hopefully will be grown up friends without our kids.

I'm making gluten free lasagne tonight. yum.................

Congratulations to your parents Karen! How wonderful...Whatever they have done, has worked!!! I agree with you...may we all be so lucky!
It is so cold here today...high was 14 or so...guess its really winter!

Wish we were all closer then we could do fun things like that for each other!!
Karen could decorate for us....I could help cook....and Lori, you could write poems about how nice your friends are!!! haha

Kathi, can you come cook for me?

The staff get together at my house went great! Everyone had a great time, eating and visiting....My friend Barb and I made all the food, so all everyone had to do was come. So with lots of good food (of course...we had: shrimp cocktail, meatballs, veggies, dips, spinach/ricotta puff pastries, ambrosia, spinach salad, marinated chicken, ham, potato salad...and probably more that I forgot..cookie trays for desserts. The next day, I get a note of thanks from the teachers and was taken out to lunch (didn't have to do lunch duty) by our principal and secretary. I was surprised but managed to make the most of it!!!
Just put my Christmas tree up (after going to cut one down)...I'll let it rest before decorating! Now to do shopping......