XC Skiing and Sprouted Grain Pasta

We're just back from cross country skiing in Grand Teton National Park. It was my first experience on xc skis and although I managed to fall at least 4 times in less than an hour I had a pretty good time and a decent workout. Cross country skiing is basically gliding along in the snow while using ski poles for balance. I also discovered ski poles are meant to prevent falls and intended to be used to get up out of the snow if and when you do fall. It was a very good workout, so good in fact that I had to take off two layers of clothing because I was sweating so much. Of course as soon as I stopped skiing and the cold air hit my sweaty body I got chilled to the bone. Now we're back at the cabin making dinner for John's friends Peter and Inger who are due here at 6:30. After the dinner party John and I plan to watch Deliverance.

We had a very nice time with Peter and his mom, Inger. Inger was born in Denmark and as a young adult was active in the Danish Resistance movement. Inger and her husband Bob helped smuggle Danish Jews out of the country to safety in Sweden, their home was used as an underground railroad for Danish Jews trying to escape German occupied Denmark. Inger often speaks about her experiences in Denmark at local schools and community centers. She is 95 years old and still drives wherever she wants to go in her Subaru wagon. She also skis and hikes despite some knee/hip aches and pains. Peter is 65 years old and has worked as both a log cabin builder (remember he built John's cabin in the late 80s) and climbing guide. He developed cancer a few years ago and moved back to WY from CO to be closer to him mom and medical treatment. He still has cancer in his lungs but says the treatments appear to be working. He takes a lot of supplements and is very particular about what he eats, but John says that has been the case for as long as he's known Peter. When we ran into Peter at the grocery store a couple days ago he asked John to buy a specific type of pasta made of sprouted grains for dinner tonight. Unfortunately, the sprouted grain pasta was absolutely disgusting and pretty much ruined John's homemade pasta sauce. Oh well! The evening was still great fun.

After Peter and Inger left we watched Deliverance. All these years I've thought Deliverance was a comedy so I was mentally prepared to watch a comedy. I guess I thought it was a comedy because guys are always quoting a couple famous lines from it and laughing, but I'm here to tell you there's absolutely nothing funny about this movie.