Shtepping Around With Hoobert

Of course, the kids and I were too ignorant to know this. We sat around playing I Spy and Parcheesi and reading and relaxing from our rigors of the day before. Our ski instructor came by and said, "It's raining now, but da forecast iss for shnow!" Our hostess at the inn stuck a finger in the air and said excitedly, "It's already colder! We'll get a snowstorm soon." And a man in the ski shop said, "It's snowing in Chicago right now!" Since Chicago was 750 miles west, I could not see the relevancy of this statement, but it seemed to make sense to others in the shop; they oohed and clucked in pleased anticipation. It was then that I realized that there is an exact parallel between skiing and fishing. The fisherman is always told by the entrepreneur of fishing that they were biting yesterday and they will be biting tomorrow; he just can't understand why they aren't biting today. And the skier is told that the skiing was excellent yesterday and a snowstorm is coming tomorrow! The result is the same in either case. You stick around.

In the face of all the optimistic weather predictions, the rain only increased in tempo and temperature. At 11 a.m. a German-accented voice came over the P.A. system: "I hoff za official weather forecast. Za rain iss changing to snow later in za day, and za temperature iss falling 10� to 15�. Za rain iss only temporary." (Hoots, laughs and a smattering of applause.)

"Oh, yes," I said to myself. " 'They'll be biting tomorrow.' "

Off to my left, a frieze of skiers was holding a seminar, and I heard smatterings of wisdom.

"Sol, do you know a good psychiatrist?"

"Why?"

"For you for bringin' me here, and for me for comin'."

"Anybody heard how it is around Stowe and Sugarbush?"

"It's great up there. Forty-two-inch base. They're skiing there right now."

In my mind's eye I could envisage a group of skiers sitting around at Stowe and Sugarbush bemoaning the fact that rain had shut them down while skiing was going on as usual everyplace else. The snow is always deeper on the other side of the fence.