My, it's a slow day on the ski hill. I just ran some rather contrived errands on the mountain, and encountered the head of ski patrol hiding in the boulders, dressed in a chipmunk suit, attempting to frighten passing employees. What else have we got do?

Anyhow, here's something I'm sure you all saw coming. I really liked the form and content of those Japanese poems, so here are some more contest entries, four centuries too late:

The snow blooms in the sunshine
Into whorls and sepals of crystals
Which are melting very quickly.
Downstream in Tesuque someone's
Probably starting a garden.

Our mogul competition
Was hardly the Olympics,
But was enormous fun.
Skis and skiers scattered the snow
Like wind-strewn petals.

Snow is unfreezing,
Mountain roads are unfurling;
Soon the rivers will blossom with water.
Not too warm yet in Idaho,
But the thimbleberries feel the sun.