- Episode 3
- Agnes and Mort awoke the next morning to the aroma of bacon, eggs and coffee. "How did you sleep last night," Agnes asked.
- "Fine; just a bit of a headache," Mort replied.
- "That's due to the altitude. It's not bad is it? It should disappear in a couple of hours as you start moving around and drinking extra water," Agnes said. "Let's see if Mal and Mel are up yet, find out how they're handling the air -- or lack of it -- up here."
- Mal and Mel were still asleep, so Agnes and Mort went downstairs alone. "Good morning, Aggie, Mort. Sleep well?" Peter asked.
- "Good, thanks," said Mort. "Nice to sleep under a big, soft feather comforter."
- "We cut back the temperature by about 8 degrees at night and we wanted you to be comfortable," Mary said. "Coffee?"
- "Yes, thanks," Mort and Agnes said at the same time.
- Thumps suddenly came from upstairs. "I guess Mal and Mel are up. They were sound asleep when we came down. They must have smelled breakfast," Agnes said. "Let me go check on them."
- "So, Mort, how do you like our mountains?" Peter asked.
- "Stunning, but a bit daunting, I'm afraid. I can't imagine how the first people who came from out east managed. The steep climbs, deep snow, cold. They must have been from hardy stock!"
- "That's for sure," Peter said. My dad used to tell stories about how the wind whistled through the cracks in walls of the houses. No central heat in the early 1900's, of course. But they were lured by the smell of gold. Their dreams of striking it rich made their hardships a little more bearable."
- "Ah, speaking of gold," Mort began, and quickly related the story of how Mal found the stolen money sack in the Indiana Dunes.
- "Fascinating," Mary said. "Do you think the children will find it fun to pan for the real thing? People seem to relate to gold much easier than to paper money."
- The conversation about money came to an end when Mal came bounding down the stairs, followed by Mel and Agnes.
- "No altitude sickness here," Agnes announced.
- "Good! Breakfast is almost ready. You've got to eat a solid breakfast to handle the weather up here. And be sure to drink a lot of water, since the air is so dry. It looks like it'll be a sunny day. Just right for finding bright, shiny flakes and stones at the mine," Mary said.
- Exploring a Real Gold Mine
- The tour of the historic mine didn't last nearly long enough for Mal. Everything fascinated him, from the original tools the miners used and the clothing they wore more than a hundred years ago to the mine itself, worked by modern-day miners. Mort and Agnes almost had to pull him away from the exhibits, while his sister teased him about becoming a miner. Mel was much more anxious to try panning for gold and gemstones.
- After the tour and Mal finally agreed to finish looking at the exhibits, a guide gave everyone a pan and explained how to pan for gold. "It takes patience and a sharp eye," she told them as she demonstrated the technique. "Take as long as you like."
- What the guide didn't tell them is that it also takes a strong back, because you need to stoop over as you scoop up sand and gravel from the ground, dip your pan into the stream and swish around the water to lift up the lighter particles and pour them out with the water while the heavier gold or gems that may (or may not) be in your pan sink to the bottom. You need to keep dipping your pan into the stream to get fresh water and repeat the process, until there's only a bit of material left in the pan and you can tell if you've got gold or gems...or until you get tired, which happened to Mal fairly quickly.
- Mel loved swirling the water in her pan and felt she could do this all day. She was thrilled to see a few flakes of gold shining in the bottom of her pan. Mal had put his pan down and was walking around near the stream, so she picked it up and patiently continued where Mal left off. Meanwhile, Agnes and Mort found only sand and pebbles in their pans and were happy to stretch their backs after the ten or fifteen minutes of stooping over, so they walked over to Mal while Mel set to work on Mal's pan.
- "Mom, Dad," Mel suddenly shouted. "Come see what I found!"
- "Just rocks, I bet. Big deal," said Mal.
- "Let's see," Mort said as he took the pan from Mel. "Where?"
- "There," Mel pointed. "See? It's kind of purplish."
- "Let me see," Agnes said as she peered into the pan. "Purplish? Could be it's an amethyst. Yes! I believe you're right, Mel. This looks like an amethyst crystal."
- "Hmph. Not very big, is it," Mal said as he came over to see for himself. He was thinking that he should have taken more time swishing around the sand in his pan.
- "Doesn't matter. Finders keepers, losers weepers," said Mel. "Mom, can we go take my pans in so I can get my gold and my am..., am..., whatever it is?"
- "Sure, hon. Your brother doesn't seem to be interested in the amethyst. It's a beauty, even if it is really little."
- Peter and Mary inspected the tiny bottle filled with water and the bits of gold that Mel "mined." Then out came another tiny bottle with the amethyst crystal.
- "Why that's an amethyst," Mary exclaimed, handing the bottle to Peter.
- "It sure is," Peter agreed. "Would you like to frame it, Mel? We can find some nice paper as a background, and you can make a nice arrangement of it with your gold flakes. I've got a wooden frame and some glass to keep everything in place."
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- What a perfect solution. Mel realized that the bottles were small; they didn't show off the gold and amethyst for what they really were -- her special discovery at the goldmine. "That's great, Grandpa!"
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- Mal just rolled his eyes and pretended not to be at all interested. Besides, that was HIS amethyst, even if he didn't particularly care for purple. I shouldn't have quit so fast, he thought to himself.
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Holiday Plans
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- Peter and Mel busied themselves with framing Mel's treasures, so Mal joined Agnes and her mother as they discussed the family's plans during their holiday visit.
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- "Tomorrow would be a good day to try out everyone's ski legs at Breckenridge," Mary suggested. "As you may remember, their children's ski school is excellent, and they have half-day lessons. You and Mort can ski by yourselves in the morning and then meet at noon for lunch and an afternoon of skiing. After Christmas, you can try Keystone and then A-Basin."
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- "School?" Mal said in a loud voice. "I thought we were on vacation!"
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- "Don't worry, Mal," Mary reassured him. "Think of it as a sports camp."
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- "Mom, this sounds like a plan my father-in-law cooked up," Agnes said. "He likes to make sure everything is neat and organized."
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- "He'd probably say 'guilty as charged,' Agnes. He and I were cooking up a storm by phone and e-mail."
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- "I thought so," Agnes said. "Now, what about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?"
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- "Christmas Eve will be at your brother Fred's. Louise is planning on making a traditional Polish Christmas Vigil dinner for the whole family. Carol, Ted and their twins are coming over too. Your twins will have a chance to meet the identical twins in our family and of course their other three cousins. Afterward, you can come with us to Midnight Mass or attend on Christmas morning if the twins are too sleepy. Carol is doing a big traditional turkey on Christmas Day, so we'll all be getting together two days in a row."
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- "What if I bring my famous cranberry sauce to Carol's? I'm sure she'd welcome one less dish to prepare," Agnes offered as she reached for her cell phone to call her younger sister. "And I'll talk with Louise to see what I can bring."
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- Peter and Mel came into the kitchen as Agnes finished the phone calls.
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- "Mel, we're going to school tomorrow," Mal announced, hoping he didn't have to be subjected to admiring Mel's framed treasures.
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- "I know. Grandpa told me. It's ski school, not regular school," Mel replied. "Here. Isn't this nice?"
- Mal took the frame, disappointed that his tactic didn't work. "Yep, it's nice, Mel. Grandpa did it for you, didn't he?" Mal was surprised at how much better the gold flakes looked in the frame, surrounding the tiny gem, than when they were in the bottle.
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- "He helped a little," Mel said. "Mostly to pick up the gold with teeny tweezers, but I did all the design, didn't I Grandpa?"
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- "You certainly did," Peter said to Mel, while grinning broadly with raised eyebrows at Mal.
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- Hmm, Mal thought. Grandpa Mike likes to wink when he's teasing. Grandpa Peter lifts his eyebrows instead.
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- Mountains Are Definitely Higher than Hills
After breakfast the next morning, Peter drove Agnes, Mort and the twins to the base of the slopes. "This way you don't need to worry about parking and taking the bus or gondola up the mountain with all your gear. Ag, you'll be surprised at all the new construction. No more parking at the slope."
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- Agnes could hardly believe that what she saw was the Breckenridge ski area as Peter turned into the skier drop-off area. The gondola, all the new buildings, even new hills to the north. Must be Peak 7, she reasoned.
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- Mort and the twins kept looking at the top of the ski runs. They could hardly believe people actually skied down such steep slopes. Now Mort was the one who raised his eyebrows. "Ag, are you sure about this?"
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- "Well, let's get Mal and Mel set up at ski school and then we'll try to figure out which grade YOU belong in," Agnes teased.
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- The woman at the registration desk greeted Agnes when she gave her name. "Hello, Mrs. Maloney. We're expecting you. Your children are enrolled for a half day of lessons today and we're ready to fit their helmets."
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- Agnes rolled her eyes and motioned for Mort to come over. "I guess your dad anticipated everything. He's even arranged for their rented helmets," she said, pointing to the sign requiring children to wear safety helmets for ski school.
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- "That's just like Dad," Mort sighed. "Are you ok with that, Ag? I could ask him to try being a little less thorough."
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- "No, no. I'm simply amazed at his capacity to anticipate what we'll need, that's all. I'm truly grateful, considering that he's never skied and yet he took the time to find out and arrange for all this."
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- Agnes and Mort met their children's ski instructor and were pleased with her ability to relate to children and her long experience at both teaching ski school and as a certified ski patrol. They were also happy to know that there were only six children in the group, so each child would get plenty of personal attention.
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- "By all means, enjoy your skiing," she said, addressing Mort's concern about leaving Mal and Mel alone. "We prefer that the children know their parents aren't hanging around, watching their every fall. They tend to be less inhibited and learn more quickly that way."
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- So Agnes and Mort said goodby to Mel and Mal, telling them they'd be waiting for them back at the ski school at noon. Mort gave his cell phone to Mel and helped her put in in a zipped pocket so it wouldn't get lost. "Be sure to call your mom's number if you need anything," he advised.
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- "Don't worry, Dad. We'll be fine."
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- As they made their way to the lifts serving Peak 8, Mort looked up and said, "Ag, are you really sure about this? How sure are you of ME?"
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- "Let's cross that snowbridge when we come to it, Mort."
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- Fortunately, it had snowed several inches the night before and the sno cats already groomed the easier runs. "Let's go down Springmeier," Agnes suggested. "It's a mid-level blue run here, but turns into a nice easy green run all the way to the bottom."
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- Mort consulted the trail map and agreed. He skied slowly and cautiously down the steeper areas and welcomed the transition from blue to green. "Wow, that wasn't half bad," he commented, feeling energized and ready to go up again.
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- And so they did. The temperature was mild, in the low twenties, and the sun shone brightly. When they reached the top of Peak 8, Mort looked up at the skiers skillfully navigating the double-black-diamond bowls more than a thousand feet above them. He was brought back to reality by his wife's voice.
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- "I don't think so, Mort. Not this ski trip, at least."
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- Mid-morning they stopped at Vista Haus for a cup of coffee. Agnes was afraid that Mort's muscles might be getting tired and didn't want aches to spoil the rest of his skiing. They talked about how they imagined Mel and Mal might be doing. Both children took ski lessons in the midwest, but this was an entirely different experience. Much longer runs, steeper slopes and the nearly unimagineable beauty of the Rocky Mountains.
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- "Is that another ski area?" Mort asked, pointing to the mountains across the valley.
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- "Sure is," said Agnes. "That's Keystone. We'll be skiing there the day after Christmas.
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- About a half hour before noon, Agnes's cell phone rang. It was Mal.
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- "Mal, are you all right? Where's Mel?"
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- "We're ok, Mom," Mal answered. "Our teacher told us about a neat restaurant called Ten Mile Station. It's at Peak 9, but you can get there from Peak 8. Can we go there for lunch?"
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- Agnes checked the map and found it. "It must be fairly new. All right. Your Dad and I will meet you as we planned. It will take some doing to get there, though. Aren't you hungry?"
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- "No, Mom. Miss Collins gave all of us kids energy bars. I really want to see Ten Mile Station."
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- Agnes and Mort had plety of time to observe the twins' skiing as they transfered to Peak 9 and then down to the cafeteria-style restaurant. They were both impressed with their children's new skills. The twins talked non-stop about their experiences, reciting facts their instructor told them about gravity and friction, speeding up and slowing down, and even Newton's Laws. "We knew lots about that already, but we could only remember one of those laws that we learned at the lake," Mel said.
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- "I know which one it is," Agnes said. And all four of them recited together, "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."
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- It was clear that the twins were exhausted. Agnes called her father and asked him to pick them up at the base of Peak 9 in half an hour. No point in risking a bad fall, she reasoned, as they took the easiest way down. She smiled as she realized no one protested that it was too early to quit.
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