The ski trip that wasn't

Observe all these feet -

without skis on ....

that's the part that wasn't -

We all still got to go Dorla's family's great old cabin, on the shore of a lake in Northern WI. And it's still a beautiful place, and I love all the people who were there, and we ate lots of delicious food - Mike & Cynthia grilled on Saturday night, brats & chicken & tuna, with a side dish of chard and sweet potatoes, with curry spices, and cardamom rice. Mary & I made buckwheat pancakes and cornmeal-cranberry ones, with fried apples and that Willow Creek sausage for Sunday breakfast. And all these feet are on a hike we all took, after that Sunday breakfast.

Besides there not being any snow, my car broke down on the way up. It has a history of warning lights that go off, but all that is broken is the computer chip that runs the light, not the mechanical thing it is supposed to be monitoring .... so naturally when the oil pressure light lit up I said, "oh, fuck off" and drove about 30 more miles, after consulting with the guy behind the counter at the gas station I first stopped at, where I checked the oil and put in a quart, who was just a random guy, no particular expertise; my sweetheart, who knows the car, by cell phone from his son's hockey tournament; and finally a salesman at the VW dealership in Wausau; we all agreed it was probably just the light ... but the engine started acting weird, and I had to get off the highway right away - the car got towed back to that VW dealership in Wausau, and Dan came down from the lake house to take me up to the cabin.

And of course last night it snowed like hell, and has continued on today - so snow for driving in, rather than skiing.