Heart Hope by Olga

When you live and work in a ski resort you expect to have snow; actually everything depends on it. Visitors come expecting it and are disappointed if it is not present. While the past few years have had an abundance of the white stuff, this year there has been a shortage of the real flakes falling from the sky. Due to good snowmaking capability and the grooming equipment available in Eagle County, Colorado we have been able to accommodate guests from around the world with an enjoyable experience even if there has not been a lot of snow.  However it is always desirable to have natural fresh powder. That’s why Vail Mountain called in the experts—the Ute Indians who have been coming to the mountains in years past when snow was needed. Apparently they have some “powers” that encourage snowfall. I’m not one who believes in magic powers or chants or dances in order to produce snowfall, so I was a bit skeptical of the news.   My doubt in their abilities was transformed in...

Have you ever been on an Indian hunt with a 6 year old, a 5 year old and an almost 4 year old? Well it has become one of the highlights of my summer over the last couple of years. It all started last summer when my grandson Will and my next door neighbor Jackson wanted to climb on the berm that encircles my neighborhood. We created an adventure by hiking up the steep incline by grabbing onto weeds and wedging our feet on rocks to make it to the top. Once we arrived at the summit we began spying for Indians since the boys had been told that there were lots of Indians in Colorado.  This year little Molly wanted to join in the fun and the activity was expanded because we began looking for real clues of who had been there before us. On our adventure we saw evidence of cool things like: Snail shells Tree stumps Deer poop Half eaten flowers Dynamite ( it was really just sprinkler heads) Bear claw marks on trees Flattened grassy areas that had been a resting spot for deer, foxes...