On A Clear Day....

We awoke yesterday to a frigid 3 degrees but as the sun rose so did the temperature. I have never in my life seen the sky so blue. I walked around all day snapping pictures, all the while knowing that I could never convey to you the pure wonder of yesterday with the mix of sun, snow and vivid blue.

Bombardier Adventure

At lunch today it was announced that one of the Bombardiers was going out for a test run and anyone who wanted a ride could come along. The village has several of these vehicles; this one is a cute little 1958 vintage special. Several of us came out for the ride. It had been years since I had ridden in one since the village only uses them in the most extreme snowy circumstances.

Here we sit ready to go. Aubrey and her mom came decided to come along for the ride.

Everything went just fine all the way down the road, but when we turned around to come back the poor baby over heated. We all sat inside for awhile until inside the cab began to fill with steam. One of our passengers was a bit afraid that it would blow up, so we evacuated. Our driver, Terry, called for support but most of us decided to walk the 2 miles back to the village.

A look back at the poor baby steaming as it waits for assistance.

We trudged back to the village in a long line, the youngest first. Eventually Terry got it running again and picked many of the walkers back up. I stayed to myself and walked back. I am beginning to love the snowy road.

Sledding Down the Road

How I wish I could have taken a picture so you could have seen me. I felt magnificent as I glided down the road on the Spark sled. There was no one there to take a picture nor could any image taken do justice to how I felt as I took the kick sled toward Lucerne.

After lunch and greeting a bus load of new guests, I grabbed my pack and took off.

I had told Jack, who was driving the bus, to look for me as he drove back up the road from Lucerne. "I will see how far I can make it before you get to me".

The first two miles were the hardest because the ground is fairly level, but after that the gliding got easier. Kick - slide, Kick - glide, Kick, kick, kick, kick - ahhhhh down hill. The sun was out with a clear blue sky, a deeper blue than I ever remember seeing before. I was all alone on my sled; just me in the snowy forest.

After about an hour,I came to the narrows, I was surprised at how far I had come and still no bus. By then I was gliding more and more and began the more rapid decent down the mountain.

The warmth of the day was making the snow soft and I was digging in a bit more, but I was glad because the road was beginning to get steep.

Suddenly, I heard a noise and around the bend came Jack and the bus. "Boy, you sure made it a long ways", he said. I smiled and was proud as we loaded the sled in the back.

I don't think a picture would have done justice to how wonderful I felt as I kicked and glided all alone in the snowy wilderness.

SOB Part Two

Holden loves a party and so we figured that we had to prove that the sun did rise over Buckskin Mountain and we had to do it with champagne.

Art and I decked out in our finestWe had Mimosas and other tasty treats

Mary poured the drinks

... and Aubry was looking her finest

Sun Over Buckskin in the Snow

Well... We are sure that Sun Over Buckskin happened but we have not seen the sun for a few days to know for certain. Holden decided to have a party anyway .... a barbeque. As you can see we had fresh snow falling all day long. Dave and Daniel stood out in the snow for hours cooking up the meat for the party.
We were encouraged to dress for a "Beach Party" and many did.

Even Aubry dressed up a bit and put on her shades.

We ate a wonderful dinner with hot dogs, brats and hamburgers and sang to the Beach Boys until we over powered the village electricity and the power went out.

World's Best Sledding

Holden has the world's best sledding hill, no traffic to watch, no buildings in the way, just steep and all down hill. Chalet Hill, as we call it, is about 100 yards long from top to bottom and is fairly steep. It runs from the top most chalet to the school.

We have had little fresh snow lately so early this morning our head maverick ran a snow cat up and down the hill to chop up the ice and make is safe for the kids to use this Presidents Day weekend. We had about 70 guests come to the village for a long weekend of recreation.

The visiting children love the hill and are on it all day long. They really pick up speed before it levels out at the bottom.

After a good ride down, they hike back up the hill for another run. Most of the time they make it to the bottom but everyonce in a while there is a crash on the way down.

If you click on the picture you can see a teddy bear on someones lap after the crash. Everyone was safe and went up hill for another try.

My Amaryllis in my Window

What more can I say? Our little window garden is surving the winter. Soon Art will build a window box for plants outside.

Good Friends Visit

I am having a fantastic week!!! Several good friends came to Holden for the annual Women's Retreat, which ended today. These ladies really fuel my soul and to have them here is like sunshine. Below are Nancy J. and Lorrie.
Of course we had to hike out to the avalanche again, my third time. This hike is becoming the "must do" hike here at Holden. Very few people have actually seen a huge avalanche and to be able to walk out and climb on it is really fun.

Below are friends Janice and Nancy L. who also hiked with us on Saturday. Very photogenic ladies don't you think?

We climbed around awhile and then headed back. Nancy L. and Janice headed back today but Nancy and Lorrie are staying till Friday, such a gift. The Holden experience is really enhanced when you make friends, keep in touch and they come to visit. This is why we moved here for a year, to celebrate our relationships and build more.

Spring

There is no denying it, Spring is on the way. Now I have been told by 100 people that I am wrong and that at any moment we still could have (and we need) 100 inches of snow, but Mother Earth herself has given up her struggle to hold back and has released Spring, as a gift to us, in the air.

Each day I see a new sign, a bird here, a chipmunk there, the owl has returned and so have the yappy blue jays. Nature knows that winter is on the way out. While we still may have quite a bit of snow in March (an usually ugly month in Washington), Spring is on it's way. The biggest sign and also the advancer of Spring is the sunlight in the village. Each day the sun rises a bit higher and higher over the mountains. Last Friday I noticed, for the first time direct, morning sun glowing on the chalets. This was the first time that the sun had risen above the ridge and before the sun tucked itself behind Buckskin Mountain till noon. Next week brings the day that we all have been looking forward too; the day that cinches it all - SOB Day (Sun Over Buckskin).

SOB Day is when the sun no longer dips behind the peak of that big mountain but flies like a kite right over the top to bring us sun for hours at a time. The village turns a bit crazy that day. We put on shorts and flip flops, Hawaiian shirts and bathing suits. We barbecue lunch outdoors, drink Mimosas (with real champagne) and dance in the street to the Beach Boys. We laugh and cheer because we have survived another winter in the mountains and we KNOW that Spring is on the way. (Watch for SOB pictures next week)

What do you feel?

Art and I just returned to the village after a week of vacation or as we say at Holden, "an out". We knew ahead of time that winter at Holden can be intense and that a week away would be very good for our mental health.

After traveling home to Ellensburg for the dog, we visited friends and headed to the beach for our week. We excitedly headed out to the "real world" to experience many of the things that we miss at Holden. Things like television, radio, really fast Internet and shopping. Exposure to the media and consumer world is something that we really don't miss much at Holden. We really do enjoy the peace and quiet and this blessed time away from the hustle and bustle of on the outside.

As we traveled from place to place, I began to notice that I was seeing many familiar things with fresh eyes. Words, phrases, slogans and such that have always been there suddenly took on new meanings and effected me in different ways. For example, we stopped in Lacey WA at the Cabella's store; I was excited to go and see all they had to offer, but when I got inside, all I noticed were stuffed animals and a wide variety of methods to kill and eat them. The camping and hiking that I was looking for was there as well, but I was suddenly overwhelmed by the message of carnage.

As we drove around, we listened to the radio quite a bit. The messages spoken over the radio really bothered me. I felt as if I were being told how to feel rather than assessing a situation and then allowing my own emotions to kick in. It was either joy over Superbowl Sunday or doom over the economy or anger at senseless crime in society. Everything was valid but I was not allowed to feel my own emotions. The emotion was set before the words were spoken. I was exhausted by the end of the week.

Here at Holden, we have very little media. We are encouraged to read and draw our own conclusions; our own feelings about events. We love to discuss and disagree, but we still walk away our with our own thoughts and emotions. Has life always been this way? Is our media just a continuation of a reactive society? What do you think and feel about all of this?

Spinners and Weavers from Saint Placid

This is a special week here at Holden; one that I was excited to experience. We have a group from Saint Placid Priory in Lacey, Washington here teaching us to spin yarn and knit. As a beginning knitter, I tend to struggle with my craft a bit. These women make everything look so easy and fun.
They have set up their spinning wheels in our common "living room" area and work all day long and help any of us who would like to learn. The high school kids are especially drawn to this and everything evening they sit, chat, laugh and spin.

Much of the wool is donated to the priory and they bring a lot of it up for Holden to spin and then use for hats and scarfs. You can read the background story of these gifted women and how they began at "Priory Knitters and Spinners".