Crystal Mountain

I'm not the greatest skier in the world, and yesterday did something at Crystal that had always scared the livin' bejeezuz out of me... skiing in deep powder on steep slopes through the trees! Remember years ago when Sonny Bono and one of the Kennedy clan both died as a result of a tree stopping their forward/downward progress while skiing? Well that was what I had always envisioned happening to me if I was ever so foolish as to venture off the groomed trails into the not-so-enchanted forest. Needless to say, I survived. It wasn't very pretty, but I made it through the trees under some semblance of control. I discovered that I can indeed snowplow through powder. Like I said, it wasn't pretty, but it worked.

Today is a big day for young Farley. He's off to his first day of puppy classes. Angus was an obedience school dropout, and he turned out to be the best dog in the world, but I want Farley to be even better. So far, he seems to be catching on pretty quickly. He knows his name and will come when called, but what I want him to learn is that my commands are not optional. I want to save him the mental turmoil that Angus had at times... "To come or not to come. That is the question." Angus always ended up coming, but sometimes he thought about it for way too long.