Mountains, Snow, Celtic Music

Last year – as in prior years – David asked to go to the mountains in the snow. (Mom thinks the minimum temperature should be about 75 degrees and she does not come with us.) He even made a special mix tape for the mountains!

When we found a suitable weekend, we booked a cabin for a night, got the extra clothes we needed, rented a car (my truck is the only viable vehicle for that weather and the boys don’t fit it the back anymore), packed it up, picked up the boys and off we went. We had to go in the “back” way because of construction.

We hit a “good” weekend – by good, I mean: there was plenty of snow but it had warmed up a bit and the wind was minimal and the roads were pretty much clear. Daytime temperatures were above freezing. We managed to find a cool place to slide down the hill away from the skiers (our GPS recognizes it as a “favorite” now) and had a pretty good day. We went out to dinner but all the places are crowded at Big Bear; we managed Mikey as best we could. Fortunately, we were in a corner were a) it was easier to contain him and b) he couldn’t reach anyone.

The next morning, however, Mikey was ready, after the briefest of times in the snow, to go home and David wanted to stay longer. We opted to pack up and stop at the local zoo. The zoo, like most zoos for no reason I have been able to determine, is on a hillside. Well. The previously-defined “good” weather had an adverse impact on us: the hilly walkways had patches of ice.

First, Mikey charged off in his fashion. I hollered, “Slow down, Mikey!” but it was too late – he slid and fell and started to cry. David, who went slower, still fell. Both boys, a couple of times.

Then at one point when I (I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and seem to be overall a bit more sure footed) was trying to keep up with Mikey while not losing David, there was this incredibly loud yell. Grandpa had slipped and was on his back. His vocalization drew a crowd, but he was more-or-less OK (bruises but no breaks).

We opted to leave at that point. The post-mortem was that the boys decided they did NOT want to go back to the mountains in the snow.

Well, like the faded memories of childbirth, those memories are far-enough faded that David is once again requesting a trip to the snow. However, Grandpa’s job is in flux and we don’t know yet what Life will look like after the holidays. So David has been talking with the assumption that this trip WILL happen.

The other day, I took him to karate. On the way, he started talking about this year’s mix tape for the mountains.

“David,” I said, “Grandpa may be getting a new job. I don’t know if we will be able to make the trip or not.”

“Then I have wasted the CD mix,” he wailed in his usual dramatic overstatement of the issue.

“David, we *might* be able to go; I just can’t promise it right now. And your mix is not a loss; at worst, you can use it another year.”

He went on a bit about it but eventually settled down.

This morning, I received this email. Please note: This was not prompted or requested in any way. Everything that follows is pure David. You will get a sense of how intelligent he is (and how single minded):

________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE NOTE: These mixtapes are for travel use only. they are meant to be ambiance for the mountains.
Note that almost every mixtape starts off with a sample of Warez's "Salt For Wounds". it is normal to hear this track, and does not count as an official "track".

Also, if switching artist genres, a modified sample of Warez's "Sanctuary" will be played. It also does not count as an official track.

Do not worry about Audio Effects. sometimes, they are useful, like in "En Filant Ma Quenoullie", when there is a silence at one point, an echo will be played.

The main genre is Celtic, but sometimes, Country will be present. Occasionally, Techno will be presented from electronic music brand Moodgadget (2004-2009), Which might also have it's own discs.

Signed,
  David.