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- Christmas Poems
- "You're quite a teacher, Mel," said Agnes as they were driving back from Carol and Ted's house. "It's said you learn and remember best when you teach something you've learned to someone else. Do you think Bobby and Billy will remember how to do fractions?"
- "I don't know, Mom. Say, Mal. Do YOU remember how to do fractions?" Mel teased.
- "Of course I do," Mal said, although he wasn't quite sure as he thought about it.
- "Tomorrow will be another busy day, so let's make sure to go to bed early tonight," Mort suggested.
- "Not before Mel and I give you our Christmas presents," Mal protested.
- "Christmas presents? But you and Mel didn't have any allowance money left over after your nice Thanksgiving donation," Agnes reminded him.
- "Oh, it's nothing we bought, Mom. You'll see," Mel promised.
- Mal and Mel ran up to their bedrooms as soon as they arrived at their grandparents' house. They came down together with a sheet of paper in each hand.
- "We wrote you poems for Christmas," Mel said. "Can we read them to you now?"
- Mel and Mal took turns standing on the steps while the others gathered around to listen and clap after each poem.
- To Mom, from Mel
Dear Mom,
You are the best,
You pass every test.
From morning til night,
When we turn off the light,
You make everything right.
Love, Mel.
- To Mom, from Mal
Dear Mom,
Sometimes I'm bad
And I make you mad.
But then you smile,
It can be seen from a mile.
I'll try to be good.
Anyway, I HOPE I could.
Merry Christmas to you
And Happy New Year too.
Love, Mal.
- To Dad, from Mel
Dear Dad,
When you write poems and sing
It makes everything
Like birdies and bunnies
Happy like the funnies.
I'm really, really glad
That you're my Dad!
Love, Mel
- To Dad, from Mal
Dear Dad,
Thanks for getting me out of trouble
Or I'd be in trouble double.
You help all the time,
Even helping us climb
Up sand and rocks
But we never saw a fox.
Merry Christmas to you
And Happy New Year too.
Love, Mal.
- "Fox!" Mel exclaimed, when Mal finished his poem to Mort. "What made you write about a fox?"
- "I dunno," Mal stammered. "I couldn't think of anything else to rhyme with rocks."
- "A fox? Well, well," said Mary, raising her eyebrows as she looked at Peter.
- Peter simply grinned. Then he said, "Wait here a minute. I need to check on something."
- Peter returned from the back porch with the biggest smile that Mary had seen in a long time. She knew what Peter was smiling about.
- It was already getting dark outside, so Peter took a big flashlight from a hook by the kitchen and waved for everyone to follow him.
- "Look down there," he said, pointing to the snow just a few feet from the porch.
- "What's that, Grandpa?" Mal asked.
- "What do you think?" Peter prompted.
- Mal hesitated, not sure he should say out loud what he was thinking. "They're tracks! Are they fox tracks? Are they really fox tracks?"
- "Fox tracks they are. We have all sorts of visitors up here on the mountain. Foxes are usually shy, even when there's food around. The Forest Service doesn't want people feeding them, although some do because foxes are such beautiful animals," Mary explained.
- "If some people feed them, can we? Just this once?" Mel begged.
- "No need to set out food. We often see them pass by here -- almost every day, just about when the sun is setting or in the early morning. From their tracks, we can tell they've been here at night, but it's almost impossible to get a good look at them," Peter said. "Let's keep a watch out tomorrow evening."
- The Keystone Capers
- All five cousins and their parents were waiting for them at the gondola when Agnes, Mort and the twins arrived at Keystone the next morning. v "All here now? Let's get some serious skiing done," Fred said.
- When they reached the top of the gondola, Agnes suggested they do some stretching to limber up their muscles before finding the easiest slope for their first run of the day.
- "I don't need to stretch. I'm ready now," Joey said. At twelve and the oldest of the seven cousins, he wanted to show off how experienced he was at this.
- "That may work for you, Joey, but I think we flatlanders need to give our legs and arms fair warning before we ask them to get us down the mountain," Agnes said, a bit more gently than the twins thought was necessary.
- At that, Joey pushed off and attacked the Flying Dutchman trail. "The girls and I will follow him down -- at a slower pace," Fred said. Let's all meet here at 11:30 and catch some lunch at Summit House if we don't see you before then. We've all got our cell phone numbers. Just call if you want to change plans."
- "I think we should all go down Spring Dipper for our first run. It starts out blue and gets easier at the bottom" Agnes suggested as she looked at the trail map. Carol agreed, and the two sisters and their families took their time down the slope, admiring the scenery and practicing their turns. They explored a few other trails, taking the Summit or Montezuma Express back up the mountain.
- Fred and Louise asked the others if they'd like to take the Outpost Gondola to the back side of the mountain after lunch. "There are quite a few blue runs there, and the views are spectacular!"
- "Let's do it," Mort answered, to the surprise of everyone. Mort must be really enjoying himself, Agnes thought to herself.
- Everyone was busy putting their skis on after arriving at the Outpost. Joey came up to Mal. "Say, Mal...er...Bioloney...did you meet up with any snow snakes yet?"
- "Who told you my name? What's a snow snake?"
- "I'll never tell. And you'll know it when a snow snake gets you."
- Mal wasn't happy about Joey's taunting and skied over to Mel. "Why did you tell Joey about Bioloney, Mel?"
- "I didn't. I told Susie and Amy, though. They must have told him," Mel said.
- Suddenly, Mal felt a big bump from behind and was knocked over into the snow. He heard a whispered "I told you - gotta be careful of those snow snakes!"
- It took a moment for Mal to feel the snow in his ear and the "snow burn" on his cheek.
- It happened so fast, Mel wasn't sure why her brother fell down when he was standing still right in front of her just a second ago.
- "Mal, what happened? How did you just fall over like that? Are you ok?"
- "Yeah, I'm ok. I guess Joey...oh, never mind." Mal didn't want to tattle on his cousin, even if he was getting to be a pain.
- "Looks like you're hitting the slopes pretty hard, there, son," Mort said when he saw Mal struggling to get up.
- "Looks like that, Dad," Mal said, deciding to forget the matter for the moment and enjoy the rest of the day skiing in the nice, cool snow.
- "You know there's night skiing here. It's really pretty at night," Fred hinted to Agnes at their planned mid-afternoon meeting. Fred knew Joey would want to prolong the enjoyment as long as possible and hoped the others would join in.
- "Oh, no thanks, Fred. In fact, I think we're done for the day. It's best to quit before you're bone-tired and wind up breaking something.," Agnes said, speaking for her family. She also didn't want the twins to miss a chance to see a wild red fox.
- Carol agreed. "Bobby and Billy are practically falling asleep standing up. We'll probably take the gondola back down."
- The Red Fox
- Mary was preparing the hot cocoa when they got back from Keystone. Peter suggested that they turn off all the lights near the windows, just in case the fox was going to pay them a visit.
- The shadows of the trees got longer and longer as the sun made its journey toward the mountains. The sky began turning gray as the sun was hidden behind the steep peaks. Peter quietly slid open the door to the porch and kept watch. "When I jiggle my fingers behind my back like this, come out as quietly as you possibly can," he instructed the twins.
- They had just finished their cocoa when Mel saw her grandfather's fingers move. She cupped her hands over her mouth and motioned her brother to follow her out onto the porch. Mort and Agnes were right behind them.
- In their excitement, no one thought to put their coats on, but no one felt cold. It was a still evening. The air was perfectly calm, and the quiet was deeper than it can ever be in the city or suburbs. It was still light enough to see details of the trees and the road below the house. Everyone looked in the direction that Peter was facing. Sure enough. A small animal with reddish-blonde fur and a long, bushy tail was trotting across the snow and directly toward the porch. They could see the black tips of its ears as its squinty eyes and black nose focused on scouting for food, perhaps a mouse or small chipmunk. The fox completely ignored all the eyes watching it as it lifted up its front paws and quickly pounced on something under the porch. After a second or two, the fox turned and trotted back the way it came, something hanging from its mouth.
- Five releases of breath broke the air's stillness, as everyone had tried to keep very still while the fox made its quick visit.
- "Wow. That was really neat, Grandpa!" Mel said, and suddenly began to shiver in the cold.
- "Ok, show's over. Everybody back in the house. It's cold out here," Peter said.
- Everyone turned to go in except Mal. "Let me stay out here a little bit. It's nice out here. Can I stay until the first star comes out?"
- Peter looked up and ignored the one star that was already beginning to shine. "It won't take long for Mal to find the first star out tonight," he said to Mort and Agnes.
- Mel then looked up and noticed the same star that Peter saw. "Star light, star bright; first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might; have the wish I wish tonight," she said while pointing upward.
- "Spoilsport," said Mal as he shuffled back into the house.
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