Portrait of the Groomer as an Old Man

On Saturday, December 29th, 2018, one hundred and two years after the publication of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Davinius sped through several inches of new snow at Alturas lake with the ginzu groomer laying down corduroy and classic tracks behind him. Hurtling along at 12 miles and hour he felt a kinship with Stephen Dedalus… “He was alone. He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. He was alone and young and wilful and wildhearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and… veiled grey sunlight.” Alas, after all the trails were groomed and looking good that afternoon, another 5 inches of snow fell overnight. As the clouds receded and the sun reappeared on Sunday morning, Davinius headed back to the ski area thinking that sunshine would make the work pleasant, until his anti hero spoke again… “You can still die when the sun is shining.” “Ahh well, that may be true”,he thought, “but here’s to life and sunny trails!”