The adventures of Dan Q Public

The Adventures of Dan Q. Public

As I was cruising the slopes this afternoon with my camera, trying to capture that one shot that epitomizes today’s conditions, I snapped this photo.

This is Dan.

Splayed out there smack dab in the middle of a blue groomer, ripe for teasing and mockery. It might seem a little cruel, a touch heartless, to publish Dan at this very vulnerable moment, especially when you see the action shot below…

Ooooohhhh, that’s gotta hurt! (Right?).

So why would I chose these shots to show everyone what today was like on the slopes? I’ll let you in on a little secret. Dan was having a ball. Not because he’s one of those glutton-for-punishment types (at least not that I know of), but because he was out with a bunch of friends, enjoying a fun day on the mountain.

I talk about Dan like we’re old buddies, but the truth is I met him less than five minutes before snapping that shot. I cruised up to Dan and a few of his friends in my “Brundage Snow Reporter” jacket, asking if it would be alright if I took pictures of them for the photo of the day. They greeted me with friendly smiles and sparked up conversation, and even some light-hearted teasing. I knew instantly I asked the right group of strangers for help on my photo project.

Dan’s friends were all pretty great skiers…

Conrad... hey Cuz

Confidently ripping turns in front of the lens…

My sis Patti!

Flashing those smiles I’d seen just moments before…

My new Cuz Margo!

and just what I was looking for in order to show the slope conditions.

My son Garrett!

(It had started snowing a couple hours before, and a couple inches was softening up the slopes. A whole bunch more snow is expected overnight, but we’ll get back to that later.)

So what on earth went wrong when it was Dan’s turn????

The truth is…nothing. He was hamming it up for the camera, as you can see when I put the time-lapse photo sequence in reverse…

See, Dan skis just fine. He was just out there on the mountain, enjoying the company of good friends, meeting new people and sharing some laughs.

Dan and his pals asked if I wanted to come ski with them the rest of the day and I would have LOVED to, but, duty calls. Hopefully our paths will cross again. There’s a kindred spirit among those who laugh and giggle with friends on the slopes…

And with the overnight forecast calling for 8 – 14 inches of fresh snow, I’m betting the prevailing attitude tomorrow will be quite different…

So as we prepare to begin 2010 with a “No Friends on Powder Days” race for freshies, it’s nice to end 2009 with a little low-key silly togetherness. Don’t you think?

- April

This article was on the Brundage Blog for December 31, 2009. What a way to ring in the new year!

New Years Eve 2009

Today started out pretty great. Most of the gang went skiing and I offered to stay home with Tristan. I had plenty of things in store for today so there was no time to spare. Tristan enjoyed finding a new hiding space in Grammy's hutch. He fit's perfectly.



Grandma and Tristan played together while I worked on "the list". The list was put together by Sue when Patty offered the services of the boys. Well, kind of funny that the boys went skiing and Lynnette got the list : ) I am sure glad it was an easy list. Steve and Tex did fix the lights though!

Lunch with Grandma.

Here is the picture of the cake that I made Mathew.

We made the cake because Mathew is getting deployed in just a few days. He will be in training then he will head over sea's. We wanted to do something special for him.

We also decorated his room. Matty is a helicopter pilot!

We love you Matty!

Gail went out to sled with the kids.

Matty's reaction after a day of skiing!

Bowling is still a hit!

Since Tex did not come home from skiing early I had to google prime rib directions so I could get them in the oven so we could eat before midnight. They actually turned out really good to... who needs Tex anyway? Just kidding honey, I love you and need you!

So the crew finally gets home after a long day of skiing!

When I downloaded my photo's I found Colin's new My Space Photo...

Here are the cousin's with room to photo shop Lisa in. We missed you sis!

The whole gang! Carrie does not like her photo taken, can you tell?

Matty is presented with his cake!

Matty, be safe and come home soon, we love you very much!
Can't wait to see you in Williamsburg!

Still hanging!

Today everyone got up and pretty much did their own thing. We hung out at the house and Tristan was playing in this basket, it was super cute!

Here are the boys doing some work!

Every Christmas we get together Nita makes us these amazing sweatshirts. This year she ran out of time but she brought the concept and she will be getting them to us. Nita also made these amazing family crest for us to hang in our home... so cool! Thanks Juani!

Dinner tonight, shredded pork taco's, thanks Suzette, they were a hit!

Angee, KG, and the girls gave us this supper cool "nerf" bowling set. It was the hit of the week!










For whatever reason we felt that it was time to go out and go sledding after dinner, but boy was it fun!

Go Matty!

The funny thing is Matt went over the edge and face planted after this run. No one was hurt thought, but it made for a good laugh!

Go Steve!

I went out to check on Garrett because I had not seen him in a bit and he was all... shhhhhh,
then he showed me this fox that had been following him around outside. Amazing!

Look how close he got to Garrett!