Wednesday, February 01, 2012

::White is Better::

Snow makes me feel so much more alive than green things do. Green things make me sneeze. A lot. I kill green things. Not on purpose, of course, I just don't know what they want from me. But snow and I get along just fine. See if that whiter-than-white face smiling out of that photo doesn’t say so.

Tremblant is a snow kingdom. The roads twist through frosted trees. Cliff-faces drip with wicked ice. The roofs of cottages are built to outsmart the weight of white, rising in sharp wooden peeks. And hills give way to hills which give way to still more hills of snow-studded pines. Being a colour-lover, I am surprised to find that I never tire of this white-washed tableau.
Another year. Another cottage. This one came with a hot tub. Hence forth, this will be a non-negotiable. Aches and pains are inevitable after going up and down a huge mountain, and jet-sprayed hot water is a welcome therapy. But, we'd all agree that if it came to choosing between two luxuries, we would choose Karin every time. We came home to warm meals very night, and were sent off with hearty lunches very morning.

I came to a sad and painful realization on day one: My boots are way too small. I just bought them, and can't return them. And there is NO WAY I will ever wear them again. I was told that boots should be tight, but when my toes went numb within one minute I began to wonder. By lunch I couldn't handle it anymore, so I laboriously yanked them off. That's when the blood pulsed back into my veins and I felt like I was standing in a bonfire. I remember looking over at a table of 80 year-olds and thinking; Want to trade bodies? Aidan drove me back to the cottage where the pain settled into a deep ache that felt like I had been sledge-hammered. Miraculously, a good night's sleep stripped most of the pain away, but left me feeling like my two big toes were not really attached to me. Meh. I rented boots with lots of toe-space and went right back at it. So glad I did.

Aidan and I have always agreed that wonderful things are made more wonderful when they are shared. I think that's why there are so few photos of just Aidan and I. We choose so rarely to be alone. We're happiest when we are just two faces in a crowd.

{Photo Credit: Fosters}