A Moment in Time
The cross country skier is inspired by childhood memories, family stories, and photographs of my mother cross country skiing.
When we were young our parents rewarded our good behavior by having winter cookouts. If we were good for a week, on Saturday evening we would strap on our skies and go into the woods with our dad. He would build a fire and we would cut fur boughs to sit on and gather wood.
Our meals were simple as we were cooking over an open fire. So we would have hot dogs, coco, and something sweet for desert. After dinner we would sit around the fire and tell stories. One of my favorite stories that dad told each time concerned putting the fire out before we left (please remember this was in the middle of the winter with 2-4 feet of snow on the ground). Dad said let the fire burn down but not put it out as the bunny rabbits would come and sit by the fire after we left. Better still, he would tell us that as the fire cooled, the snow would
start to freeze and capture the bunnies so they would be there for us to see in
the morning. Of course we never caught any bunnies, but we past this story along
to our kids (they didn’t catch any bunnies either!).
My mother loved to go cross country skiing when she was younger. At that time, there were no ski areas for Alpine skiing. The skis were very wide and very long as there were no groomed trails and the skis had to support your weight on the snow. The ski poles had very large “baskets” again to stay above the snow. Going uphill could be very challenging unless you had seal skins strapped to the bottom of your skis. When going downhill or on the level, you will be going “with the fur”. When
going uphill, you go “against the fur”giving you the grip you need to climb the
hills. They now have all sorts of special waxes for this purpose.
Cross Country Skier - Ski poles in hand and carrying their skis with leather bindings, this figure dressed in knickers and hand-knit sweater, scarf and mittens is ready for a fun time in the snow.
When we were young our parents rewarded our good behavior by having winter cookouts. If we were good for a week, on Saturday evening we would strap on our skies and go into the woods with our dad. He would build a fire and we would cut fur boughs to sit on and gather wood.
Our meals were simple as we were cooking over an open fire. So we would have hot dogs, coco, and something sweet for desert. After dinner we would sit around the fire and tell stories. One of my favorite stories that dad told each time concerned putting the fire out before we left (please remember this was in the middle of the winter with 2-4 feet of snow on the ground). Dad said let the fire burn down but not put it out as the bunny rabbits would come and sit by the fire after we left. Better still, he would tell us that as the fire cooled, the snow would
start to freeze and capture the bunnies so they would be there for us to see in
the morning. Of course we never caught any bunnies, but we past this story along
to our kids (they didn’t catch any bunnies either!).
My mother loved to go cross country skiing when she was younger. At that time, there were no ski areas for Alpine skiing. The skis were very wide and very long as there were no groomed trails and the skis had to support your weight on the snow. The ski poles had very large “baskets” again to stay above the snow. Going uphill could be very challenging unless you had seal skins strapped to the bottom of your skis. When going downhill or on the level, you will be going “with the fur”. When
going uphill, you go “against the fur”giving you the grip you need to climb the
hills. They now have all sorts of special waxes for this purpose.
Cross Country Skier - Ski poles in hand and carrying their skis with leather bindings, this figure dressed in knickers and hand-knit sweater, scarf and mittens is ready for a fun time in the snow.