Happy New Year from Green Mountain, Vermont !!!

Here I am sitting in front of an Apple computer in a bed-and-breakfast inn deep in the Green Mountain of Vermont, USA. It has been snowing for the last twenty-four hours and the forest is just completely covered with pristine white snow. This afternoon, I put on my X-country skis and went for a quick trip to the Sugar Bush area and back. The powder snow was almost up to my knee. The snowflakes were falling from the sky and the scenery was just like the miniature world inside a Christmas snow-globe (I wonder if I would have fallen off the face of the earth if a giant were to come along and turn the world upside down). As I glided effortlessly forward, it was like dancing in an outdoor ballroom full of falling snowflakes. Along the way, some kids were tobogganing on a steep hill, laughing and screaming their heads off as they bombed down the snow-packed trail. Ah, the joy of childhood, how I remember those days - except that I was in Hong Kong, there was no snow, and everyone was screaming their heads off !!!

I took a zig-zag course up the hill and then skied down telemark style - bending both legs and keeping the arms out on the side to keep my balance. The powder snow was so thick that doing a face-plant (i.e. falling forward head first into the snow) could actually be fun, but I did not perform one!!!

Back in the inn, the keepers' cats Snowball and Smokey were waiting at the door as I stepped inside. They mewed and wanted to be patted.  I changed into dry clothes, made myself a cup of Vermont coffee, and sit down in front of the fireplace to warm up.

As the year 2007 draws to a close, I must say I am deeply content to be here in the deep of Green Mountain, enjoying the beautiful powder snow, the quietness of the wildness, the crackling fire of the wood-stove, the company of the people around me, and the hospitality of the inn keepers and their cats. 

Happy New Year everyone !!!