Winter 2026

Winter 2026 was cold and snowy and for the first time in years we remained in New England all season. Over MLK weekend we visited Dartmouth

where Tessie had her first downhill ski experience courtesy of Caroline

The pond behind Caroline's dorm was groomed for ice skating

and this is a winter activity that the whole family enjoys

Caroline's introduced her friend Emily to pond skating

Later in February Dartmouth held its Winter Carnival

Among the annual events is a polar plunge into Occam Pond. Students have a safety rope around their waist and paramedics are on hand to make sure the kids survive the experience

In Boston we watched the Crimson vs Big Green hockey game

Katy and Charlie visited in February

and we made our pilgrimage to Boda Borg

February dragged on and the snow kept coming

During one storm I accidentally ran over a buried snow shovel. If you look carefully you will see the metal shaft of the shovel wrapped around the impeller blades. It took some hacksawing to release the shovel, but the old blower wasn't harmed.  

Visiting National Park caves has taught me that when a stalactite reaches all the way to the ground, it is called a column

The snow in February never melted and covered our kitchen skylights

Erin's Galentines Day fruit board

Tessie's sleeping buddy

For part of February break we headed back up north to Vermont staying at my friend Gunther's house. He had a book about Dartmouth that listed their traditions. Apparently Pong and Keggy the Keg are at the top. Hmm...

We took Caroline out on her birthday

Lake Morey in Fairlee Vermont is famous for the longest wild ice skating trail in North America

It's about 4.3 miles around. This year it had been frozen for many weeks and the expansion cracks that formed required attention to avoid  

 

Tessie requested that we find a cat cafe and the Purrmont Cat Cafe fit the bill. Amazing how they got Reggie to pose for this poster posted in the mens bathroom.

The cats were amazingly friendly

and cute

Tessie's favorite was a blind cat named Louie

One last major snow event hit us in late February

Erin learned that it is better to clear off your car the night before rather than in the morning 

The cross-country skiing at the local golf course was excellent 

For a couple of years we've subscribed to an online wine tasting event with the PBS legend, Rick Steves. This year Rick got tipsy as he described the life of a professional European traveler

Our last winter sojourn was up to Sugarloaf Maine as guest of Heather's friend Elizabeth. The snow conditions were perfect. While I cross-country skied Heather and Tessie snowshoed

and Tessie had a great experience on the downhill bunny slopes

Skiing on powdery snow is far preferable to the icy granular mix that we typically encounter

I rented Nordic skates for a lap around the lake