Montana Adventures!

So i got way too many wonderful gifts on christmas. Stained glass tools, my dad's old camera and its related equipment, books, cds, just wonderful stuff. My mom over-tinseled her side of the tree, which probably drove my sister crazy because she hates tinsel in the first place.

It snowed all day long, truly a "white christmas". i took Nat cross-country skiing at the little place just down the road from our house, which is a golf course during the summer. We fell on the first little downhill, and Nat broke (bent, i should say) his ski pole trying to stop. i myself face-planted into a snowbank, but laughed the whole time. We tried to bend the pole back, but to no avail. He skied the rest of the course with it bent, and we paid the $10 replacement fee after about 3 hours of schussing around, taking turns on and off the pre-made ski tracks.

We tracked deer through the cemetery, following their cloven hoof-prints and finding fresh droppings (so exciting!), in spite of the falling snow. i looked left, and right, but it (or they) was long gone. The Stillwater River, which runs through town, froze, melted, and then re-froze, confusing the lingering flocks of ducks who were living there.

We drove Nat up to Big Mountain to check out snowboarding info, and he ended up dragging my sister along. They were up there for a good 6 hours, falling on their butts every step of the way, but having a gay old time. Nat is quite hooked now, i fear, and living in San Diego with no car does not exactly help matters. Big Bear is a mere 2 hours away, but we have to get there first. We've definitely created a monster.

We watched icicles slowly form off the eaves above the back porch, where we smoked many many last cigarettes. i made a so-so apple pie, and my mom made her famous fruitcake. (No really, it gets eaten.) Met the sister's boyfriend, who welcomed us the first morning we were there with eggs and huckleberry pancakes. It was heaven. He even made us breakfast on our last day there, which was a nice bookend to the trip.

We drank lots of coffee, slept in almost every day, and romped in the snow. Nat and i made snow angels our second day there, which were promptly filled in by the falling flakes. He was mesmerized on our walk to the cemetery by the tiny six-sided delicate wonders that were landing on his gloves. Actual snowflakes! We mused on how many, many flakes had to fall to create such a thick, powdery blanket. Snowmen were basically impossible due to the fluffy nature of the snow... in Vegas it was a cinch because it just stuck right to itself when you rolled it. Nat did, however, hit me with such a rock-hard snowball that it left a bruise on my thigh.

He also tried to make a snow-trapezoid, and broke a large icicle off the roof, which i dubbed a unicorn horn, and stuck it sticking straight up on the snow-covered boulder in the front yard. He learned how to chop wood, and i re-learned. Mostly i focused on the kindling, which was always more fun for me anyway. My brother split the logs with seemingly no effort, and my mother let out a war whoop to assist in splitting hers. Crackling fires inside the house, upstairs and down.

On Christmas day, my sister had to go to her old work location and clean for two hours, which i thought was just ridiculous, so i offered to help. We arrived around 5 p.m., just as it was getting dark outside. Once inside the coffee shop, i swept floor mats, rolled them up and hoisted them up on top of upended chairs. She swept the expansive floor with a giant push-broom, and i followed behind with a mop and a giant tub of hot vinegar-water, which was black by the time i was through. We were exhausted at 7:00, and decided to take the trash bags in the back of her truck to the dump, which turned out to be a bad idea. Around 7:30 or so, on our way home from tossing the trash, we ran out of gas on the dark and snowy highway. On an incline. The weird thing was, i could have sworn i predicted it, that her truck was low on gas. And so we slid slowly backwards, five, ten, twenty feet. It was nightmarish, but luckily no one passed us on the road because she didn't have her license and we were worried about highway patrol. Thankfully the truck started again, and we put-putted our way up the hill, with the truck basically dying again, but this time as we pulled into someone's well-placed driveway. She ran inside to ask them if they had any gas, but ended up calling home instead, since they were all waiting on us with dinner. What a night! My mom had to put everything on hold and take the gas can down the road, fill it up, and then find us on the side of the road in the other direction. Needless to say, we were extremely happy to get home safely.

It was hard to say goodbye to my dad and my sister, leaving them up there in the snowy North. It is tricky not to feel guilt when one family member sacrifices so much to take care of the parent who has suffered a debilitating health problem... i know it is hard for her up there, and for him. They aren't necessarily the best of friends, and she hates her job. He is sort of stuck all day in the sunken, basement-like living room downstairs, but at least he has the dog, who loves him. i am so glad i got to see everybody in one house, under one roof just like the old days. i think we are a bit more grown up, now, which led to less fighting overall. But the hackles still get raised, the buttons are there, waiting to be pushed. At the end of the day, though, i'd like to think that we all truly love one another. And actually, that i know. Here's to that love remaining until the next time.