Dr. Seuss is right.

Dr. Seuss is right.

Sometimes skiing does not matter!

The feeling of frustration around the town of Killington is palpable. Most of the ground in white.... snow guns are running.... it's the first weekend of November and the mountain is NOT OPEN FOR SKIING! What's wrong with this picture???

But then reality sets in. You look at the ground and realize it's just a fake out. Mother nature has dusted the area with a ephemeral coating of powered sugar. It looks great, but if you look too long you will find that it just goes away. You look at the weather forecast, and realize that next week the temp's are supposed to be in the 50's during the day...great for finishing up any delinquent yard work, but not great for early season snow cover. Then a card comes in the mail, and reality sets in.

Unknown to most of you, Mary's nephew, Scot, has spent the last year in Iraq. Mary and I have our opinions about the the situation in Iraq, but having grown up in the sixties, we STRONGLY know the DIFFERENCE between supporting troops deployed overseas in our country's name, and supporting the policy of politicians who deployed them.

I try not to be to political on this blog. Anyone who knows me, knows where I stand. But this is not a political blog, it's a blog about life in Killington. If you want to talk politics, I own a bar. And in the great New England tradition which fomented the American Revolution, I will spend hours with you in the bar talking politics if you want. But I digress to the self explanatory.

Over the last several months, Mary has been making little care packages to send to her nephew. Just little things... banana nut bread... peanut butter cookies... little things to help brighten up what can be a drab diet for troops deployed in forward areas. We really didn't thing much about it. We had some fun in the kitchen figuring out how to vacuum pack the items so they would stay fresh in transport. But it was just something nice Mary felt she needed to do to support her nephew, and make sure that he knew people back home were thinking of him.

A couple of weeks ago, we got some good news. Scot's unit ended it's tour in Irag; he was in transit out of country, and would be back at his normal base in a few days. A few days later, we get this card at the inn (see today's picture... double click on it to see the card in detail). It turns out Mary's nephew had been sharing his goodies with his unit. When they got back to their base, the all signed a card thanking Mary for the care packages. "Thank you very much SPC Reed", 'Your cookies made my day...Todd B", "Thank you so much for sending us your love and support...Lt Chung"; "Thank you for thinking of us in Iraq. The cookies really hit the spot. Spc Douglas", "I can't thank you enough, But we need more(lol)...Spc Danier"; "Thanks for all the much needed TLC...Sgt "Izzie" Isabell"; "Real food is better.. Scott".

So you see...in the end....skiing just doesn't really matter very much.

What ever you may be doing next Tuesday, November 7th, please go and vote. No matter which side you choose, the ultimate way to support people in service to this great nation, and American Service Men and Women deployed overseas is to vote. And if you can, also send the troops cookies.. They really appreciate knowing that people care about them.