I handed dad his thermos of coffee, got out mine and my sandwich.  Dad looked, where’s my sandwich?  Where did you put it?, I asked.  It was on the table with yours, he said.  You told me not to touch your sandwiches, remember?  Dad looked.  That was enough, he forgot them, and that got me laughing, loud and long.  It was hard to eat.  I did share half my sandwich with him though.  What about the cookies?, he asked.  There’s still one left, want it?  One?  How many did we bring?  A dozen, I replied.  You ate 11 cookies already?  I ate 6 in the car before we got here, and since you took half my sandwich…dad just looked.

Then I flipped the snow off my snowshoes. Oops, sorry.  One batch of snow landed in dad’s coffee.  Dad just looked.  My last cup, was all he said.  Finally with snowshoes back on we headed back.  Should be easier going back, I said.  Not with you here, said dad. Now why would he say that?  Dad went first down the hill, which was fine with me.  If he slipped I didn’t want him behind me.  We just got going and dad stepped on his snowshoe and…he was gone.  Head first into the snow.  I was still laughing from before, that finished me, I got laughing so much my stomach was sore.  At least you didn’t slide too far, I said finally.  Which is because he hit a tree.  With his head.

What a time we had getting him back on his feet again.  I suggested he take off his snowshoes, but he didn’t want to do that.  Too hard putting them back on, he said.  Dad said for me to go first now.  Great.  As I passed dad he lost his balance and sat down in the snow again.  Why did you sit down?  You pushed me, he said.  Barely touched you, I replied, but it was kind of tight getting by you.  Ha, ha, he said.  That got me laughing again.  And another long time getting dad back on his feet.  We’ll never get down the hill this way, I said. 

You have a better idea?  Sure, let’s ski down, I said, I’ll go first and clear a path so it will be easier for you, all you have to do is squat down like this and steer with your hands.  It’s easy, I said.  Dad thought, then said it might work.  Off I went for a perfect trip down the hill.  It was a gentle slope along that part with nothing major in the way to hit.  I made it nearly to the bottom then waved for dad to come down.  Amazingly he actually tried it and did very well.

But he went a lot faster than I did.  You should have seen the look on his face as he flew past me and right into a bunch of bushes at the bottom of the hill by the lake.  All I heard was a scream and a lot of cracking branches.  Poor dad, something always happens to him.  Getting him untangled from all those bushes with his snowshoes on was so funny! He finally decided to take them off and walk across the lake.  No further mishaps, except dad lost a glove while skiing down the hill.  A long trip for nothing, I said.  You seem to be enjoying it, said dad.  That got me laughing again.  On the way home we stopped at our favorite coffee shop for something to eat and warm up.  This would make a good story, I said.  Bonehead, was all dad said.  He enjoyed himself after all.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2020 Steve McLeod.