I have managed to combine the monthly check-up on the lodge with a couple days of actually relaxing and having a bit of fun.  It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday and we were able to get in a few hours of skiing.  I was pleasantly surprised. The slopes weren’t bad at all: short but not bad and perfect for the first day of skiing after a long period of not putting on skis. The spa was really nice and soothing for my knees.  We had a dusting of snow during the night but it was not enough to provide a nice base of snow over the icy artificial snow that the resort has been making. 

The lodge is as nice as ever and there was only one minor object fatality during the past month-one snooker cue-so we were fortunate.  Hundreds of hawks have been circling the resort grounds. We think they must be mating or else a huge animal has died and the birds are enjoying the biggest buffet of their lives.  While we were riding on the lifts, we spotted a beautiful red-headed wood pecker. Normally, they are nearer the lodge but I guess with the hawk frenzy in this part of the resort changed Woody’s mind.  I hope to be able to get back to the lodge in March and I’ll blog about the upcoming spring and new bulbs we planted last year.  Even with our cold spell, it looks  like an early spring in Northern Virginia.