High Points: Homeward bound

“There’s no place like home” chanted Dorothy as she clicked the heels of her ruby slippers three times with the hopes of being transported from the magical city of Oz back to her abode in the Kansas flatlands.  

I can dig it. As I write this, I am in said flatlands of Kansas and am clicking the heels of my HOKA’s three times in the hopes of being transported back to the magical city, not of Oz, but of Aspen. That’s right, like so many others, my holiday travels were stymied by the weather system that blew in and closed down roads and disrupted flights for those trying to get to Aspen for Thanksgiving. Mine was spent wishing I could be with my wife and dog; but instead, I am still holed up in a hotel in Kansas City. Yes, I am feeling a little bit sorry for myself.

That’s one of the things about living in Oz … I mean Aspen. Sometimes you simply can’t get there. This week offered up a perfect storm that nixed the plans of so many who had wanted to come and celebrate the beginning of ski season and Thanksgiving in our little town. At the Denver airport, there were many who had booked an early season vacay with family and friends in Aspen who simply could not get there. Snow shut down all access for close to 48 hours to the Roaring Fork Valley.

On the one hand, it sucks to get stuck. But on the other, we are all living for the upcoming ski season that has started with a bang. Top-to-bottom skiing five days before opening day? Seven inches and sunny skies on the first Monday of the season? A base of two feet+ when the calendar is still on the November page? Yes, this season is set up to be something special.

Still, that’s all just Pollyanna stuff if you can’t get there.

And this week, it’s not just the powder conditions that I, and my stymied compatriots in the airports, are missing. This is the week of feasting. Turkey and all the assorted dishes that come with it are going a-wasting for those of us who can’t get to Aspen for the holiday repast. It’s the one day a year when sprouts and stuffing are on the menu and when a slice of pumpkin pie provides just the right coda to the meal.

Yes, in fact the only thing better than a Thanksgiving dinner are the leftovers the following day.

There is just something so satisfying about coming home from a morning-after-Thanksgiving ski session and crumbling on the couch with a turkey sandwich while watching a little Black Friday football. Oh, and yes, for Amazon Prime subscribers, the Chiefs and the Raiders will tee it up at 1 p.m. this afternoon.

This may all sound a little disjointed, but if you were me, killing time thanks to the ravages of the changes brought by an early-season snowstorm, you’d be disjointed as well.

As you get up this post-holiday morning, feeling full but satisfied from the food and being with your family and friends, give a nod to those who did not make it to Aspen this year. Those whose Thanksgiving 2024 memory will be of lines at the airport and Voodoo doughnuts rather than turkey and pie.

Think of those, click your heels three times, and say, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”  Enjoy your ski day.