Deja Vu

Well here we go again, more snow things...

As we run into March I'd usually be thinking about Spring, the daffs would be up, the hedges would be budding green and it'd generally be pissing it down like you wouldn't believe. However, I negelect to remember that we're still in Canada - and this winter thing just really does like to hang on. It would seem that winter ends in May, we have a week of Spring and then lo and behold, before we all know it Summer will be here in all its glory.

Another weekend at Sunshine was on offer this weeked;

Brina was out in fine fettle again, ski-ing like a crazy speed deamon, chanting the mantra "play with the mountain - don't fight it" - a term she got from an 87 year old Austrian skier who still rides the half pipe - and I thought 31 was getting on a bit! It was a big breakthrough in ski-ing tradition that Brina carried a backpack. After all this while of being chief Sherpa I finally spat my dummy out this weekend and pointed out that I no longer need to carry a bag as I can fit everything in the multi pocket jacket mentioned in previous post!

This piccie is just to prove that the moniker of the packhorse has now truely shifted hands in this relationship!

We had a blast up on the slopes and were hoping for the typical blue sky classic day - alas - although the sun was out in Cochrane and it reached the giddy heights of 7 degrees, the clouds still covered the mts and, coupled with the snow, temperatures never got beyond minus 5 - which still feels bloody warm by comparisson to the rest of the year.

I got to ride my big old fat board which I'd had the kids at school waxing and sharpening in a makeshift snowboarding lesson (I'm pretty much the master of my own curriculum - the "lets go visit the coffee shop lesson" was by and far my most creative professional day so far as a teacher). The little blighters hadn't done too shabby a job on said board either and it rode like a greased up tea tray!

On the theme of work, we have this Thursday and Friday at school without the kids - it's just their parents that come in (which in many cases is far worse! "why are you taking my child's class to the bloody coffee shop Mr Williams?" is a line that I am readily prepared for and building up my armoury to defend "well, this class is all about the rounded child, and I was thirsty.. and also, do you think I give a toss?" - not sure how well this will go down, so may have to polish up any witty retorts). Work is good fun at present though and Spring break is encroaching - I feel a boarding road trip coming on (although am so tempted to blast it down to Moab in one coffee and red bull induced hazy drive, to ride on the rocks again). Brina is back off to the Soo for the week and she's looking forward to seeing all the folks again.

Although the winter here looks set to last up in the hills, the snow is melting off outside in Cochrane and Calgary at a heafty rate of knots - it's like the end of the last ice age down our street - and luckily I still get to drive the chuffing big truck, so I'm taking great pleasure in hitting all the big puddles and casting tidal waves of meltwater over all the little kids who insist on playing street hockey at just the same time as I'm getting home from work! (Simple pleasures).

I'm hoping that you are all keeping on the right side of the law and that you all have a twinkle in your eye,

Don't carry more than you need (don't carry anything if you've got a wife)

Tally Ho with the mischief,

S&S.

p.s. I've inadvertently put in a really blurry picture (we were both cruising at high speed at the time) and I'm too inept to extract it from this posting - but you can make out the fuzzy form of Brina hurtling into oblivion (at least in my defence this shows that I carried the camera - but I've got a special pocket for that!).