Vibe-Winter-2425 - Flipbook - Page 17
had vanished.
I took off my skis and helped the
kids with theirs, thinking walking in our
boots might be easier. It was not. Our
legs punched through the tough crust
with each step, punishing our tender
shins, but we made some progress
toward the brook we needed to follow
to the clearing. Plunging forward, Vivian
and George would drop their skis or
poles, which would then skitter away.
After lunging for escaped equipment
multiple times, I began to carry all the
skis and poles. The kids were able to
stay on top at some points, but I crashed
through like a moose. They began to
pull ahead of me, disappearing through
the trees. We yelled back and forth to
each other to hear above the crunch and
crack of breaking snow crust as the kids
tried to navigate along the brook bank
and bring us to the rendezvous point.
Our racket could be heard for quite a
distance in the particular peace of this
winter morning. Fortunately, this alerted the other party that we were indeed
on the way!
As we approached our destination,
sweating and exhausted, we employed
a third technique: the commando crawl.
We had reached the final phase of our
battle with the terrain. With our skis
again attached, we slithered along on
our belly, elbows and knees through
a gully and up the last steep embankment. Silhouetted above in the sunlight
were the father, daughter, and son,
watching and waiting patiently for us.
“Hello, Madame Klein!” called out
the girl, also my student. I had been
newly hired as the French teacher at the
Grammar School.
“Quelle aventure!” I exclaimed, finally standing up, with an oversized smile,
an attempt to mask my mortification.
When our skis slid into the freshly
groomed tracks, I felt like kneeling to
ed each other. En vogue educational
concepts like mindset or grit seemed
appropriate so I expounded on the value of today’s lesson rather than share
the stream of expletives in my head.
“Sometimes the longer route is the
best. We’ll stick to the trail next time,”
I assured the father, wanting to convey
that, despite all appearances, I was not
an idiot. I was just woefully inexperienced for this town. Did I even deserve
to wear a Skida hat?!
“Ha! Um, yeah, we have to go
through the woods for a bit from our
house. After every snowstorm I snowshoe or ski a path and maintain it so
we can get to the groomed trail,” he
explained.
Good tip!
As it turned out, there hasn’t been
a next time for our two parties to ski
together, though I know he continued to
ski with his children over subsequent
winters, just not with us. Maybe we
scared them off. When I suggested the
following winter that we could rally the
school (enrollment 45 at the time) to
have a ski-to-school day for everyone,
he politely excused himself from our
conversation.
He may have pegged me as a dreamer who becomes aware of practical
concerns only when it is too late to turn
back. This fault—or quality—has indeed provided plenty of misadventures
and stories to tell in my life, before
children, and now with them along for
the ride. What will they remember of
this day, I wonder?
My son skied off with the father and
older children while my daughter and
I skied along at a more leisurely pace,
across meadows and streams encircled
by mountains. We were soon on the Yodel Trail, a long downhill thrill through
the woods to the village. And yodel we
did, with gusto! Soon we swooped into
kiss the soft sparkle. I have never been
so thankful for a groomed trail in my
life. A ribbon of white carpet had been
laid just for us VIPs; cross-country
skiers hold a place of honor here and it
is nothing to take for granted.
With humble apologies we joined
the other family, and the children greet-
the village, passing the old cemetery,
and admiring the rugged peaks that
have guarded this valley for centuries.
We took off our skis and crossed the
stone bridge over the Wildcat River,
arriving rosy-cheeked, and tardy, at
Jackson Grammar School. And it
was so worth it!
A Cozy Boutique
Historic Bed & Breakfast
in North Conway
Just Minutes from Cranmore,
Shopping, & North Conway Village!
We took off our skis and crossed the stone bridge over
the Wildcat River, arriving rosy-cheeked, and tardy, at
Jackson Grammar School. And it was so worth it!
Winter 2024/25
859 Kearsarge Rd, No. Conway
(603) 356-2044 • www.cmlnh.com
Scan and use code MWVVIBE
for a lodging discount!
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