Pappy's Birthday

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for today, not only because it was Pappy's birthday, but also because I spent so many of them with him on the mountains.

Pappy used to love to go skiing over his birthday so he could take all the guys out for dinner that night.  He called it the "Freddie Cates Memorial Dinner," so it was special in several ways.  His idea was that Freddie's gift to him of an interest in Venetia made so much money during the year that he had to try to spend it all that one evening.  And damn if he didn't try!  It got harder when the troupe got smaller, after Tom Oakley passed and Cookie stopped coming.  The best trip I remember was the last one we took, the one on which this picture was taken.  It was dinner at Aspen's famed Crystal Palace, a dinner theatre where the wait staff was also the entertainment, doing comedy skits and songs.  We all walked in and Waldo immediately waved to someone seated at a table as if he was a long lost friend--turns out they met on the airplane earlier in the week.  Next table over was a long time friend of his from Jacksonville...they finished chatting in time for us to run into my college classmate, Murray Goff, also from Jacksonville, coming down the stairs from the balcony.  Murray has never said to me in so many words, but I suspect Waldo had a bit to do with Murray's admission to Princeton.  Or maybe Murray just loved Waldo for who he was like so many other people did.  Murray: if I'm offbase on that admission thing, I apologize, no offense meant.  I'm sure my name was a help to get me in--the administration would have been nuts to pass up the chance to get another Richard L. Stockton up there--but I have no doubt Murray had to do it all on his own (or maybe with a kind word from Waldo in support).  I marvel at how easy it seemed to get into Princeton back then, as compared to how hard it is now. 

And so, another February 10th comes and goes, and I prepare yet again to head to the slopes, this time to New England.   Ah, the memories.... he would be happy.  Happy Birthday, Daddy.

Stupor Bowl 2011

I don't remember any of this, and it's the day after.  Oh, yeah, the Steelers lost. Or was it that that other team won?  Shit.

Weekend at the Beech

Ah, the best of intentions can be killer...or is that a killer?  The plan for the "weekend" trip to NC was to get the boys off to the slopes for a bit, and to become more familiar with the impending daughter-in-law.  A short visit to the Charlotte Casa was in the mix as well.  And we thought it would be cool for Winnie to see (and play in) some snow, since we obvious weren't going to get her out to Colorado in her present lifetime.  Thought sure the two parts of her genetic make-up would LOVE the snow...turns out, not so much.  Maybe if she had been younger, who knows--Sassy had a great time, but Winnie was pretty miserable.  Might have been the 49 steps from the house to the road that got to her (and to me, who shovelled most of them after the first snowfall).  The place was pretty much like all rental units in NC, very Timbers 6-ish, but with better decor. 

Jane and I got there the night before the kids, so we had a chance to scope it all out, and I got to ride all day Friday by myself, since B and S got held up in town (natch).  Beech Mountain is...how to say....small and mostly flat.  The "black" runs they had were actually one longer bluish run split into 2 (maybe 3) trails.  One good thing, it was the least crowded of all of them. And that was a big issue on Saturday when B and I  went out.  The slopes were so covered with participants, it falls into the "I wouldn't say your mother is fat, but..." school of hyperbole: I wouldn't say it was crowded, but at the base I couldn't fall down without hitting at least 2 people sitting on the snow. And that was the best result, because when they were upright, they were positively dangerous.  Really. 

There seemed to be some nice houses on the slopes at Beech, but location, location, location.  There's a reason that big houses on or near the slopes in the west command millions of dollars--that's were the good snow is.  Ah, well, another experience to remember.  B and I had as much fun as we could, and Shelley (who was injured) spent a good bit of time with Jane and learned to knit.  A good result all around.  Now to start planning the wedding!