Living in
St. Louis, MO we experience all four seasons but winter is not nearly as
extreme as many of the northern states. Some years snow accumulation is
heavy but other's medium to light. Schools frequently have days off in
the winter due to snow fall but work was rarely cancelled at McDonnell Douglas
(where I worked). I had been working at MAC of 4 years when in the winter
of 1982 we had an 16 inch snowfall over night which accumulated quickly and
pretty much suspended any and all traffic. Surprisingly, McDonnell Douglas
cancelled work that day.
My family
and I were living in a fairly new subdivision in Florissant at the time. Just to set the stage the trees were very
small as they are in most new subdivisions because they bulldoze them down to
build the houses more easily then replant young trees. Doesn’t make a lot of sense but that’s what
they did at the time. Anyway there was nothing
to block the wind so in a big snowstorm we would have huge snowdrifts in the
streets, which prevented any cars from driving down the streets until the plows
came through.
I had recently
received a pair of Cross Country skis so what a perfect day to try them out,
especially with work being cancelled.
The heavy snowstorm was a bit of a surprise and we had not gone to the
grocery store recently. Truthfully, we
weren’t going to starve hold up in the house for a few days but I told Mimi I
would ski down to the corner market (small convenience store) to get some eggs
for breakfast because we were out. She
gave me a weird look almost to say “Really, Is that really necessary” but
instead she said “Whatever”. With that I
got the skis out and dressed warmly for my two mile trek to hunt for food.
I got my
backpack out to carry the eggs back and headed out into the cold. I was thoroughly enjoying my trek down to the
store and I could ski down the middle of street without worrying about any
cars. Cross Country gives you a great
workout and I felt exhilarated by the time I reached the store. I left my skis outside and went in the store
to buy my much-needed eggs but apparently, others had planned better because
they only had four left without a carton to protect them. I said no problem, and bought the eggs
carefully placing them in the backpack each wrapped in paper towels I retrieved from the bathroom. The clerk gave me
that same weird look I got from Mimi but why would that faze me “It was a guy
thing she wouldn’t understand”.
You
probably think you know where this is going, just be patient. I leave the store and carefully place the
backpack on the ground while I put my skis on, then gently strap the backpack
on. It was a small backpack with just a
shoulder strap no waste strap, but why would that be a problem? So off I go skiing back home with my bounty
of eggs to feed my starving children.
Well, that’s the way I’m looking at it.
Now for all
those who have never used Cross Country skis, it’s quite different than
traditional Alpine skiing. You shuffle your feet forward and backward and push
the ski poles to move forward, so there is a lot of body movement required to
move the skis forward unless you are lucky enough to have downhill slope which
I did not. Are you getting the
picture? Oblivious, to this I press on
being careful that I do not fall, as that could be disastrous for the
eggs. I reach home (my final
destination) as a victor removing my skis and telling my wife “I have
breakfast” but as open the backpack I find the four eggs are already scrambled
and not in the way I like. I suddenly
realize that the Cross Country skiing motion was banging the eggs together with
the precision of a Cuisine Art.
I set the
backpack down, I would need to clean that out later but now it’s time for
breakfast, “How about toast?”
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