I can still recall the excitement of snow fall in November in Berchtesgaden because snow ment that we would have jobs and the sqweekers would be comeing.
That first winter as a civillian after one as a TDYer I had to hope that Georgia Grothie would hire me to work in Ski issue.
The snow fell and piled up and I had a job at Skytop. I no longer had to be a waiter at the Berchtesgadner Hof, but I was still living there and then lived in the General McNair with Mark Ringer as a roommate for a while. Ah, yes that was the winter of Jonah, you don't meet a lot of women that go by a mans name. But she was most certainly all woman.
That winter I ended up in the old Motor Pool/ Arms room. I ended up in a room on ground floor, the old Arms Room, all to myself. Seems the housing people didn't know that all the work orders had been completed and so I ended up with a huge room to myself. Plenty of room for my stereo, record collection. clothes, and of corse the SKIS! Housing would tell everyone about all the work orders that that were out on the place that I was living. Everyone that was told about it just passed. It gave me a great place for the winter.
The following Thanksgiving found me celebrating the first of several that I would be having at Chiemsee.
Then there were the years at Bad Aibling.
Once that I had a place on the Economy at Chiemsee I pretty much had an open door policy.
There was always a bunch of people at the house, watching video, listenng to music, making casettes. Remeber back when we all had those little tapes for our walkmans?
One year management at Chiemsee said there wasn't going to be a Staff Christmas, so I said that I would have one at my place. We did and then management changed thier mind and had one as well.
Looking for snow up on the ski slopes and the excitement of that first snow fall is something that I still remember.
These days for my first snow fall it is usualy when I take a group of friend across the passes on the Cascades up to Leavenworth, a Bavarian style village. Some how it seems there is almost always snow. This year at time I was driving the bus as slow as 20 miles an hour...right behind the Washington State Trooper in front of me.
Tomorrow I'll have about 20 people in and out of the house between noon and about 8 at night. There will be people from Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America.
On the 9th of December we will have the annual Snow Party. I will take a REALY BIG Truck up in the Mountains and 14 minutes later it will be full. An hour later we will be pulling up at the house and drop 2-3 feet of snow across the front yard, Build a sled run have the party with the help of about 40-60 people getting the snow out and the party will begin. there will I will cover the snow so the Seattle Rain can't reach it and the sun can't melt it.
On Christmas the cover will go away.
In the mean time people will slid in the snow, Listen to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate and eat Christmas Cookies.
I don't make that much money, but I find ways to enjoy life more then some of the millionaires that I do know.
Friday will be a Holiday/Christmas Parade, Gingerbread Houses that are over 6ft tall, $10,000 Christmas Trees. a Tree Lighting, a Minature Christmas village and train set bigger then my house! (well my landlord's house) Saturday the Pike Place Market will have it's Treelighting with Carolers wandering around.
The Tree lightings remind me of the ones in Bavaria, meeting friends and having a drink together, a meal shared.
I'll grow up later.