A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought. ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov
[Châtel is a commune in the Upper Savoy department in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is situated in the northern French Alps on the French/Swiss border and is a popular ski resort. Despite its development into a major ski resort, the village still retains many of its traditional alpine characteristics (Wikipedia).]
[But it was early April and there wasn’t much snow left. I don’t think anybody in our group skied . . . ]
[And on to the nightlife . . . ]
[Not that I have any remembrances of it . . . ]
[I suppose that could be good or bad . . . ]
[A hotel/restaurant, in English that means it’s a place to stay and/or eat . . . ]
[A mountain and a church . . . ]
I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest — it’s only a mountain. ~ Junko Tabei, first woman to climb Everest
[Located in the center of the village, the Super-Châtel gondola takes you at an altitude of 1650m. I have no recollection of this . . . ]
[Meanwhile, back on the slopes . . . ]
[Nope, just doesn’t look good for skiing . . . ]
[Walter and Roel and the fountain pond in Chatel . . . ]
[Wrapping up the wind around pond walk . . . ]
The only mountain that I would still like to climb: I’d like to break 85. ~ Peter Falk
[Himself . . . ]
Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little she achieves her work. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
[The Château de la Bâtiaz was built in 1260 and is the only remaining witness to the medieval era (www.valais.ch/). I think I’m correct, but I have no personal remembrance of this . . . ]
The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see. ~ Albert Einstein
[The covered highway, a defense against avalanches . . . ]
[Dire fromage!]
[The very definition of “tourist” . . . ]
There is probably no pleasure equal to the pleasure of climbing a dangerous Alp; but it is a pleasure which is confined strictly to people who can find pleasure in it. ~ Mark Twain
[The monument at the entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel from the French side. The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a highway tunnel between France and Italy. It links Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France with Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy. The passageway is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes, particularly for Italy, which relies on this tunnel for transporting as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe (Wikipedia).]
[Mont Blanc (“White Mountain”) is the second-highest mountain in Europe after Mount Elbrus. It is the highest mountain in the Alps, rising 4,808 m (15,774 ft) above sea level. It is the eleventh-most prominent peak in the world. The mountain stands in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France (Wikipedia).]
The skiing center of the world is southeastern Indiana, where I like to call home. It looks like the Alps there; it’s crazy. ~ Nick Goepper
[If a playwright tried to see eye to eye with everybody, he would get the worst case of strabismus since Hannibal lost an eye trying to count his nineteen elephants during a snowstorm while crossing the Alps. ~ James Thurber]
The Journey Begins
Thanks for joining me! This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more. Thus, this is “Part 2.” As the original was initially described:
10-26-07-4
“It all began in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California” . . . wait a minute, that was Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show! Let’s see . . . oh yeah, it all began in 2003 when retirees, i.e., old people, in Alexandria, Minnesota, who had no desire to become snow birds, went looking for mid-winter entertainment here in the frozen tundra of West Central Minnesota. We discovered girls’ high school hockey, fell in love immediately, and it remains our favorite spectator sport to this day. Initially, and for several years, reports on these games were e-mailed to those who were actually snowbirds but wanted to keep abreast of things “back home.” It was ultimately decided a blog would be more efficient, and it evolved into a personal diary of many things that attracts tens of readers on occasion. It remains a source of personal mental therapy and has yet to elicit any lawsuits.
~ The Editor, May 9, 2014
p.s. The photo border around the blog is the Cardinal girls’ hockey team after just beating Breck for the state championship in 2008. It’s of the all-tournament team. The visible Breck player on the left is Milica McMillen, then an 8th-grader – she is now an All-American for the Gophers. The Roseau player in the stocking cap I believe is Mary Loken, who went on to play for UND; and the Cardinal player on the right, No. 3, is Abby Williams, the player we blame most for making us girls’ hockey fans who went on to play for Bemidji State.
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Photos contained herein are available for personal use. All you have to do is double click on any of the photos and they will become full screen size. You can then save them into your personal “My Pictures” file. They make lovely parting or hostess gifts, or holiday gifts for such as Uncle Ernie who wants to see how his grand niece is doing on the hockey team. If any are sold for personal profit, however, to, for example, the Audubon Society, National Geographic, Sven’s Home Workshop Monthly, Curling By The Numbers, or the World Wrestling Federation, I only request that you make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. You have two hours and fifteen minutes. Pencils ready? Begin!
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