days like this, you don't go outside
The couple that had breakfast with us was older, but not too old. They weren't the soft, aged retirees that one sometimes sees in bed & breakfasts, having blown in to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of a friend's restaurant in Williamstown, had gone to bed at 3AM the night before on the tail end of an all-night bender and were looking to repeat the same feat tonight. No, their livers were still running, their party endurance was still up, and they didn't act old, even if the wrinkles and crow's feet said otherwise. They still called us babies when we mentioned our age.
A light morning snow shower swirled outside and the woman of the couple visibly shrank into her shawl, saying that she didn't want to go outside in this weather and couldn't imagine how people could live here.
"You should understand," she said, "I'm from Maryland. It doesn't get that cold down there. Days like this, you stay indoors."
but still they asked what we were planning on doing, and when we said that we were planning on going hiking, they laughed and shook their heads. Though, when we said that we were from Canada, she said, "oh, well, that's ok then. You all are used to it. But when you get to a certain age, weather like this just hurts, you know? I sound terrible, like some big lazy slob, and you know I get my own exercise in. I try to stay fit. But I don't go outside1."
And, yeah, hiking around Mt. Greylock with an icy wind that slices right through you doesn't fit into most of our definitions of "fun" but walk far enough and you can stop and listen to nothing. You can't hear the chatter of people or the jets of planes. You can't hear the noise of traffic or the sounds of population. You can find peace and solitude.
Then the wind starts up again and you want to hustle back to town and get a cocoa.
* * *
This year's iteration of the Banff Mountain Film Festival wasn't quite as interesting as the previous years. Maybe I'm just getting inured to all of the Teton Gravity Research skiing movies. You can only watch so many extreme heli-skiing runs before the lot start to blur together. There were a couple of neat films about Himalayan villagers and 10 year old female rock climbers; but I'm used to seeing a more consistent string of interesting films in the festival and this year was pretty hit-or-miss.
One neat thing is that I won a raffle and picked up a free membership to the Applachian Mountain Club. So, I've been spending my lunch hour going over their website, tempting myself with courses on ice climbing or a winter mountaineering package. Like, I don't have enough to do this year.
1 We later found out that they were professional ballroom dancers, and that they dance for 15 hours a week. That's pretty hardcore in its own way.
A light morning snow shower swirled outside and the woman of the couple visibly shrank into her shawl, saying that she didn't want to go outside in this weather and couldn't imagine how people could live here.
"You should understand," she said, "I'm from Maryland. It doesn't get that cold down there. Days like this, you stay indoors."
but still they asked what we were planning on doing, and when we said that we were planning on going hiking, they laughed and shook their heads. Though, when we said that we were from Canada, she said, "oh, well, that's ok then. You all are used to it. But when you get to a certain age, weather like this just hurts, you know? I sound terrible, like some big lazy slob, and you know I get my own exercise in. I try to stay fit. But I don't go outside1."
And, yeah, hiking around Mt. Greylock with an icy wind that slices right through you doesn't fit into most of our definitions of "fun" but walk far enough and you can stop and listen to nothing. You can't hear the chatter of people or the jets of planes. You can't hear the noise of traffic or the sounds of population. You can find peace and solitude.
Then the wind starts up again and you want to hustle back to town and get a cocoa.
* * *
This year's iteration of the Banff Mountain Film Festival wasn't quite as interesting as the previous years. Maybe I'm just getting inured to all of the Teton Gravity Research skiing movies. You can only watch so many extreme heli-skiing runs before the lot start to blur together. There were a couple of neat films about Himalayan villagers and 10 year old female rock climbers; but I'm used to seeing a more consistent string of interesting films in the festival and this year was pretty hit-or-miss.
One neat thing is that I won a raffle and picked up a free membership to the Applachian Mountain Club. So, I've been spending my lunch hour going over their website, tempting myself with courses on ice climbing or a winter mountaineering package. Like, I don't have enough to do this year.
1 We later found out that they were professional ballroom dancers, and that they dance for 15 hours a week. That's pretty hardcore in its own way.