Snow days wrapped up on Saturday.
Out of the rental house by 10:30.
It was a week without writing anything.
Just posting greatest hits of the blog, which is a good reminder to write more.
It’s good to be back, but good to be off a while, too.
Most of the time snow days come with an anticipated weather event like a heavy snow fall.
The wife and I live on a street that gets lots of snow that sticks around longer than anywhere else.
Just my street, but there’s probably more I haven’t seen.
One year we were stuck for nearly two weeks with snow and ice packed in.
That was the year before we bought a car to navigate the snow and ice in the future.
Two weeks with one person is a challenge, especially in the snow.
We’ve all heard about the Donner Pass?
Here it is.
The airplane crash in the Andes with a rugby team?
Both events had several things in common.
Cold, snow, altitude, food shortage.
Sun River Party
We had snow, ice, and cold, but no food shortage.
It was as if we all had a premonition. There were eight of us and two dogs.
The food stuffs:
We are also bringing Coors, cider and a boxed wine. 
Tacos: 
Beef Tortillas, Cheese, Olives, Onion, Tomatoes, Guacamole, Mushrooms, Sour cream, Yogurt, Quiche, Pancakes, Bacon, Sausage, Strawberries, Black berries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Grapes, Apples, Caesar salad x2, Bell peppers, 2% milk if we have room in the cooler.
Food Stuffs Part two:
We’re bringing these: Loaded chili Onions, olives, avocado, cilantro, and pickled jalapeño, Cornbread, Salad, Chips & queso, Everything bagels ,Cream cheese, Smoked honey salmon, Lox, Onions, tomatoes, dill, Chicken breakfast sausages, Blackberries, Grapes, Hummus and carrots, Chex mix, Kettle chips, Apples, chips, Chili pistachios, Yogurt covered raisins, Costco box of coors and ciders. I’ll bring things to make brown sugar oatmilk lattes or matcha lattes.
Four adults, two kids, and two dogs would not starve in the high desert.
Besides, if we ran low we could do a Viking raid on the neighbors, except we were the only people around.
Like the street where I live, the area we spent a week had heavy snow, but not so much everywhere else.
It looked like snow-mageddon out the window with snow covered trees and an ice covered round-about.
The main road, Hwy 97, was clear, but we didn’t know until we left. We didn’t want to know until then.
The isolation had a good feel to it.
Top Of The Mountain
Where do you go from here?
Down, that’s where you go.
We had a fast sled for parents and kids to fly down the hill on. There were a few crashes.
I had snow pants instead of a sled and slid down the hill on my butt a few times.
It made me glad I try to stay in some kind of shape. You go faster with your legs off the snow, which requires core strength.
Was it a dangerous hill? Dangerous enough for this:
By the time we left we were un-injured, un-damaged, and not dead.
No cannibalism, frostbite, or ill will.
The dogs had more freedom than they’ve ever had running through fields of snow off-leash.
We came away with a greater appreciation of snow daze. It was bright.
All in all, I came away with a better understanding of family.
Now I’ve got a fresh insight into what I’ll be writing about.
It’s not always all about me, but after a week on the shelf, it could be.
When a writer does’t write they get a little backed up, a little testy, a little too much.
Not me. It was all part of my crafty plan.
No one had to wait on the old man to finish a blog post to start the day.
We found other ways to spend time and wonder why we didn’t do more sooner.
From food selection, to kitchen prep, to cooking, eating, and cleaning up, it seemed endless.
Just finished breakfast cleanup? Time for lunch prep.
It was a well-oiled machine; we could have stayed a month.
They are my people, my kind of people, but I got the feeling of Hansel and Gretel in the witch’s house fattening up.
“Would you like seconds? We have ice cream. You’re starting to look thin.”
About David Gillaspie
