No, not blow monkey, snow monkey.

Annette’s on a plane right now… heading for Minneapolis and then on to LaGuardia. So naturally i’m at my computer doing something… uh… webbish. Start the clock for another 30 days. I fly to NYC on Feb. 13.

Yesterday we did one of my all-time favorite things, we drove up to Gold Fork Hotsprings and soaked while the snow fell. One of my favorite National Geographic covers was the one with the snow monkey sitting in the hot water with snow and ice on his head. I strive to emulate that pose. Honestly, it is nothing short of magical, to sit in the hot water, in a really pretty setting, while snow falls.

What ruins the experience is, of course, other people. Annette and i like to soak quietly. We’re not the only ones. But it never fails that some ludicrously boisterous group eventually shows up and simply can’t speak quietly or be respectful of others.

The ride up 55 was beautiful. There is about 30 inches of snow and the pines looked like one big piece of calendar art. The road in to Gold Fork was actually in excellent shape. The snow had been cleared, but not removed down to the dirt road surface so the road was sort of “repaved” with snow. The fields of potholes that nearly ended our Volvo were smooth and white with a fresh covering of snow. This road was one of the main reasons we bought our little 4 wheel drive truck and it performed flawlessly. I don’t know what Nissan did to the transfer case or the front differential of the Frontier, but it is amazingly sure-footed. Pickup trucks are notorious for being problematic when there is no weight in the bed, but this little Nissan just carries on like a sports car with good ground clearance. If it had a better turning circle it would be “jeremy’s perfect vehicle.”

So yesterday i got to be a snow monkey for a couple hours. Now it’s back to normal reality. The VPN client is not working at the moment so i’ll have to go into the office to commit the additions i’ve made to several web pages all of which are due on Monday. Plus i still have to “jazz up” the Powerpoint (ugh) presentation University Advancement is prepping. That’s going to be problematic seeing as how i feel less than “jazzy” at the moment.