Val Chatel

Yesterday I was transported back in time.  I was a teenager learning to downhill ski.  My best friend in high school Cathie was a skier..she would invite me to go along.  I was not a very good skier, I was not coordinated enough to use the tow ropes..my only alternative was to go up the hill in the chair lift.  Once you are up there, you must ski down.  So I learned to ski out of necessity..it was a do or die situation.

 There was an estate sale happening at the old ski lodge yesterday. Next door neighbor Jo and Far Guy and I went.  Far Guy never attempted skiing so he had never been out there before.

 There were lots of people, and a whole bunch of Antiques for sale.  We visited with friends and greeted relatives.  While I was taking photographs, a very nice man joined me, he walked up and said "Take those photos now, because you aren't likely to get the chance again."  Then he proceeded to tell me about how much fun he had learning to ski here.  We stood for a long time, admiring the view..each knowing what the other was seeing.  Not green grass and a lake, but a frozen expanse of lake, and hills covered with snow, tow ropes and a chair lift..and skiers zigzagging down the hills..so cold that you can see your breath.  Red cheeked kids laughing as they came down the hills, snow plowing to a stop at the bottom of the hill..turning around and going right back up the ski hill again.

This is a beautiful setting, the usually long grass had been mowed for the sale or maybe to keep the bugs down.  It was such a long time ago that I had dinner here, before prom when I was sixteen..

I bought a set of old bells that I will use as a wind chime..Far Guy bought a couple of rocks to use in the landscape of his train set..he carried around my bells for me.  They are a handy device, I could tell where he was at throughout the rest of the sale.  I could hear the bells disappearing up the road and knew when he was headed to the car.

This was a beautiful place in it's day.  I have lots of good memories here of old friends from well over forty years ago.  In my mind I could still see that damned tow rope, the one where I could never get my hands and feet to cooperate..I always ended up face first at the side of the trail:)