Lou’s News #28 – Months Gone By – Fun with the Scanner
Hi All,
It’s been a while… Our Colorado summer was as much about home upkeep than it was a time for hiking. Above all, new granddaughter the focal point. Now it’s winter — if you ignore the talcum powder ground and Arizona style thermometer numbers. What’s coming? It’ll be interesting…
The memoir, Avalanche Dreams, has been in print for more than a year. It still moves, what with surprisingly brisk local sales here in the Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen, etc.), along with the usual mix of audiobook, Amazon, and Ingram for bookstore orders. Further, it sells in Germany and the UK. Perhaps a German language version is in order?
Holiday season, books make delightful gifts. How about a signed copy of Avalanche Dreams? Vintage Ski World has them on hand. Or for the personal touch, contact me via this website or Facebook messaging. Allow plenty of time for shipping.
So, what’s next for my keyboard and notebook? I love retrospective writing. On that note, there remain a couple of short-form memoirs in the works — I’ll spring those on you sooner or later, no hard deadlines at the moment. As for books, I’ve noted a guidebook genre that combines personal anecdotes with route details. Maybe something of that nature is in order, covering the Colorado fourteeners. After all, I’ve got years of research tied up in my out-of-print guidebooks. Combine that with personal tales of the steep, the not-so-steep, and dodging deer during Colorado night drives. Could be good.
Now and then, I fire up my film scanner for a bit of old-timey inspiration. Back in 1989, I’d conscripted Jon Waterman (the prolific author) for a ski descent of fourteener Mount Wilson in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. The skiing was good, as was the ground coffee we chewed raw for want of the cookstove fuel I’d left in our car (full story in the book). I snapped the pic below as Jon skied in the grasp of majestic Gladstone Peak, a thirteener next to Wilson. My take seems to break most rules of composition, but I like the way the image asks us to join Waterman as he slices his way down a bounty of velvet springtime corn.
Skiing Mount Wilson
On the gear side: The other day I noticed most of my technical apparel is bordering on ratty. Burn holes, jammed zippers, mystery stains (okay, I’ll own the motor oil). I guess that’s what happens when days are as much about cabin woodchops and vehicular upkeep as they are about skin tracks. Funky fleece and patchwork nylon are a look, that’s for sure, and maybe funk was me back in the day. But I’ve got things such as book signings and press events, and jackets without burn holes are just better for such things if, like me, you’re decades out of your dirtbag stage. To that end, Stio has set up Lisa and I with a variety of stylin’ pieces, from fleece to goose down. Below, one of my faves. The Men’s Rawlins fleece is what I’d call a town worthy piece that doubles as technical. The hidden waist drawstring, interior drop-in pockets and chest pockets are tech, while the extra side pockets and arm protectors, and lack of hood are what I’d call style. Oh, and the collar, it’s just good, zips perfectly snug around my skinny neck. A win — check it out at Stio. And yeah, there will be no exposure to motor oil.
Stio fleece
Lastly, as is requisite to an author’s newsletter please know the master shopping page for my memoir, Avalanche Dreams, is the homepage of this website. Pick up a copy, I promise you’ll be amused. And if you’ve already spent a few hours with my story, please leave an honest review on the Amazon shopping page.
