HELMIKUU

On Friday, the 27th, Timinius returned from his sojourn to the beaver state and swiftly began grooming ski trails at Alturas Lake. Taking as his mantra the official Oregon motto – “She flies with her own wings”, he jumped on the Ginzu groomer and buffed out South Loop, Over the Hill and Sheep Thrills Trails. On Saturday, the last day of February, his plan was to clean up the rest of the trail system. Such a clean up seemed particularly fitting, since February, the last month to be added to the calendar, was named after Februatio, the Roman festival of ritual purification. With Timinius taking over grooming responsibilities, our now idle Finnish grooming master, Divinius, was sitting alone beside the frozen lake. In Finnish, February is called helmikuu, meaning “month of the pearl”. Davinius marveled at this image, as he watched the snow melt on willow branches beside the lake. First it formed lens like droplets. Hanging from the ruddy willow stems, they projected tiny upside down images of the world that delighted Davinius. Then, as the temperature dropped, these multiple world views faded away as the tiny droplets froze solid, leaving behind a mystical string of icy pearls in an alchemical transformation that heartily pleased the old hermit.