Mea sententia

With a solid 18 inches of snow and the much appreciated work of our expert grooming crew, I had my first real skinny skiing session of the season. It was 11 F when I started, and the temperature was on the way down. But the sky was blue, the tracks were great, and the cold weather kept the crowds down.

It is going to be very cold for the next 10 days, so we are off to a good start. Some photos:

For me, Christmas has always been about family time, music, and comfortable traditions.

Lebkuchen were one of the most anticipated and treasured traditions for our family Christmas. My mother usually made two batches of about 50 and they never lasted long enough to get stale. The recipe is from my GG Aunt Mary Dutcher Field (1848-1929).

This past year I became a certified Green Dot instructor. Let me tell you why it is important to me - and should be important to you.

My daughter and I were standing on line in an upscale cross-country ski lodge near Sun Valley.  The man in front of us ordered for himself and then his somewhat younger and obviously starstruck female companion. Their order consisted of two hamburgers, two coffees, and two large chocolate-chip cookies, and their bill came to about $30. He handed the guy behind the counter a $100 bill and said, just a bit louder than necessary, “Keep the change.”

As I watched my 17 month old granddaughter decode the world, it was impossible not to marvel at the enormity of the task and wonder what was going on behind that so expressive face as she processes the flood of sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, experiences, and consequences. Some predictable, but many not.

Since I retired, I have repeatedly been asked two questions. “How do you like retirement?” and “Don’t you miss practicing medicine?”

Imagine that you want a boat. You tell someone to build or buy you a boat, and tell them to send you a bill. What would you get? A kayak? A windsurfer? A boat for waterskiing? A sailboat. A party boat? A cruise ship? A submarine? A battleship or destroyer? You probably would not get what you want. Very likely you would end up with something expensive - that you cannot use.

Before you build or buy a boat, you need a defined goal and a process:

This week, waiting at a local hairdresser for my appointment, I had an unnerving experience.

Two women came in together and sat down. They were talking enthusiastically about the previous night’s State of the State address by Governor Lepage, pleased with how well he spoke and looking forward to some of his promises. At one point, one of the women said: “It’s too bad they won’t let him do what he wants. If they did, he’d get rid of all those Somalis.”