211. Winter

I am particularly fond of winter in the United States, especially here in the mountain west. Here winter has all the joy of snow and winter sports but you can easily get away from all the cold and ice if you are so inclined. I live in northern Idaho, and there is no doubt that all of Idaho is affected by winter. For the mountain west, I don’t live at a particularly high elevation—only 2,500 feet—and I’m on the west side of the continental divide so the warmer Pacific storms keep it from being too cold. We do, however, frequently get the arctic cold coming down to turn all of that Pacific rain into snow and at 2,500 feet the snow can be frequent. I love the snow. I love to ski, especially cross-country ski. I love how the forest turns into a magical place when the snow comes. And because it’s so mountainous here I can easily go higher and find more snow than I have at home. I can also easily go lower and get into a more desert climate and avoid the snow. Those different climates are all within an easy hour’s drive from me, so I have the luxury of enjoying several variations of winter.

Of course, I’m getting older, so all the snow and ice can become a little more difficult to manage. Now days I’m just as happy sitting inside by the fire and watching it snow. I have to get out in it some just to be outside, but I no longer ski downhill because I know how rigid my body has gotten both in its ability to be agile and manage the skiing (because I don’t do it enough) and in its tendency to break because I am not as agile as I used to be. But I’ll still strap on the Nordic skis and replace my run with a XC ski trip.

Growing up, I remember going out in the yard of my grand parents who lived where the snow accumulated greatly over the winter. I would try to see if I could walk across the top of crusted snow and as a boy I often could, but sometimes I would suddenly fall through and have to figure out how to get back out. Far from being panicky, I would relish the challenge since the snow could be anywhere from three to four feet deep. Another thing I enjoyed was taking my runner sled out into the field near our house and sled down the path of the frozen creek. That was crazy because when it was that frozen there usually wasn’t a lot of snow, so when the sled came to an edge I would go flying. I don’t remember ever getting hurt, though.

As a teen and young adult, I took up Alpine skiing and went regularly to Brundage Mountain which was only about twenty miles from our home. I loved that but it always seemed expensive and as a poor young teacher I gave it up. Later I bought Nordic skis and have since turned my winters over to exploring the wonders of the frozen world on my Nordic skis.

And now it’s nearing the winter holidays so all the romance of winter is coming to light even before there is any snow on the ground. I always like to celebrate the first snow with some hot chocolate and Christmas carols, but sometimes the carols can be a bit early if the snow comes in October. That’s the way to discover who the Grinches are. Winter is a beautiful time in this part of the world and I’m glad I get to enjoy it in all its reality and romance.