After Thoughts: South Park Winters
Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of sharing an afternoon tea with journalist, Alexandra Lampert at the beautiful Bristol Hotel in Paris. I was so happy to meet her and so glad she didn’t ask too many tough questions, since it was impromptu. She was kind with the inquiries, and is a charming lady. I was happy to have met her.
I know I am not the only person this happens to; whenever I leave a conversation which in this case, was, in fact, an interview, you have one of those “ah shucks, I know what I should have said!” moments, as you reflect after the fact. I had one of those moments at about 4:00 in the morning awaking me from my slumber.
Luckily for me, I was encouraged to “blog” and so now, I can at least record somewhere what I would have liked to have said, after the fact.
Ms. Lampert asked something to the effect of “ How did you get from a ranch in Colorado to Paris, France?” My answer was something similar to “duh, I dunno, just happened” not exactly the words (I hope not! quell couchemar!) but whatever they were, I am sure I could have done better! Whatever I did say, what I would have liked to have said would have been too long of an explanation, so I will share it with you here, if you are so inclined to read it.
When I was in Colorado several years ago, I briefly met a very nice lady from the North East of the United States. She was in her golden years, but quite lively and not knowing anything about my origins, my ambitions, or anything about me what-so-ever asked me where I grew up. We were in Breckenridge, at the time, so it was easy to explain that I came from the other side of the pass in South Park. “Oh” she exclaimed “then there is nothing you can’t do, you will succeed in whatever you put your mind to.” And she giggled a little. “You are a lucky young lady!” Of course, her observation intrigued me since South Park often experienced a bit of ridicule from the surrounding communities.
She went on to explain that she had graduated from a famous women’s university in New England, and she was impressed by a young classmate who graduated as valedictorian. The young woman had come from Alma, Colorado, a little town in South Park. She had attended a one room school house and had somehow gone from that little snowy town at 10 thousand feet above sea level to become the toast of the New England’s academic society.
The kind stranger went on to explain that the speech made by the valedictorian had impressed her immeasurably through her life. I don’t think she realized that by sharing her memory of it with me, she was implanting a still small voice in my heart which still encourages me each time I feel a little dismayed.
Though, naturally, she couldn’t quote the speech, nor could she remember the name of the woman who made it, she was able to paraphrase enough of it to change my life. The valedictorian described the winters in South Park, the horizontal snowstorms, the bitter cold, hyperthermia, and most of all, the constant wind.
The winters of South Park are long and hard and eventually give way to wildflowers with lives as short as butterflies. There is a small relief when the flowers appear through the snow; it makes it all worth while, for a little while, until the hurricane force winds come again blowing the heavy snow against the fences and the rest all the way to Hartsel.
But, when the snow covers the flowers again, the children remember their promise that they will be back again very soon. It is too bad that the adults sometimes miss their promise and curse the cruel winter for invading the spring.
The gentle stranger described the chill they all felt in the room as if they were hearing Jack London reciting “To Build a Fire”. The valedictorian explained that if you can survive a South Park winter, everything else in life is easy. If you are fortunate enough to have survived many, then life is a cinch.
Sometimes, people give in to difficulties, because those adversities are not extreme enough to force them to find a way to survive. Life in South Park is much less difficult these days, but I remember the wind, the horizontal snowstorms, trying to get home in the car at night with the headlights off because turning them on only reflects the light back into your eyes from the white wall of snow. None of that has changed. I remember, all too well, the terror of not knowing where the edge of the road stops and the cliff begins. For people in South Park this is not a one time experience, it is a way of life. People who grow up in places like that survive. I don’t think it is necessarily a conscious choice; it is just something that becomes a part of us, like the color of our skin or the size of our feet. We just do it, we just survive.
Spring is just around the corner in South Park, but they will endure some very treacherous spring storms before what I have always called “the snow flowers” pop up their little heads. As a little girl, I used to look for them, and when I found one coming through the snow, I would get very excited and announce it to everyone. They are little violet “furry” flowers and are my favorite, I don’t think you can buy them at any florist; you just have to find them in the snow.
I hope there are children in South Park looking for snow flowers, and I hope they will let me know when they find the first one.
I know I am not the only person this happens to; whenever I leave a conversation which in this case, was, in fact, an interview, you have one of those “ah shucks, I know what I should have said!” moments, as you reflect after the fact. I had one of those moments at about 4:00 in the morning awaking me from my slumber.
Luckily for me, I was encouraged to “blog” and so now, I can at least record somewhere what I would have liked to have said, after the fact.
Ms. Lampert asked something to the effect of “ How did you get from a ranch in Colorado to Paris, France?” My answer was something similar to “duh, I dunno, just happened” not exactly the words (I hope not! quell couchemar!) but whatever they were, I am sure I could have done better! Whatever I did say, what I would have liked to have said would have been too long of an explanation, so I will share it with you here, if you are so inclined to read it.
When I was in Colorado several years ago, I briefly met a very nice lady from the North East of the United States. She was in her golden years, but quite lively and not knowing anything about my origins, my ambitions, or anything about me what-so-ever asked me where I grew up. We were in Breckenridge, at the time, so it was easy to explain that I came from the other side of the pass in South Park. “Oh” she exclaimed “then there is nothing you can’t do, you will succeed in whatever you put your mind to.” And she giggled a little. “You are a lucky young lady!” Of course, her observation intrigued me since South Park often experienced a bit of ridicule from the surrounding communities.
She went on to explain that she had graduated from a famous women’s university in New England, and she was impressed by a young classmate who graduated as valedictorian. The young woman had come from Alma, Colorado, a little town in South Park. She had attended a one room school house and had somehow gone from that little snowy town at 10 thousand feet above sea level to become the toast of the New England’s academic society.
The kind stranger went on to explain that the speech made by the valedictorian had impressed her immeasurably through her life. I don’t think she realized that by sharing her memory of it with me, she was implanting a still small voice in my heart which still encourages me each time I feel a little dismayed.
Though, naturally, she couldn’t quote the speech, nor could she remember the name of the woman who made it, she was able to paraphrase enough of it to change my life. The valedictorian described the winters in South Park, the horizontal snowstorms, the bitter cold, hyperthermia, and most of all, the constant wind.
The winters of South Park are long and hard and eventually give way to wildflowers with lives as short as butterflies. There is a small relief when the flowers appear through the snow; it makes it all worth while, for a little while, until the hurricane force winds come again blowing the heavy snow against the fences and the rest all the way to Hartsel.
But, when the snow covers the flowers again, the children remember their promise that they will be back again very soon. It is too bad that the adults sometimes miss their promise and curse the cruel winter for invading the spring.
The gentle stranger described the chill they all felt in the room as if they were hearing Jack London reciting “To Build a Fire”. The valedictorian explained that if you can survive a South Park winter, everything else in life is easy. If you are fortunate enough to have survived many, then life is a cinch.
Sometimes, people give in to difficulties, because those adversities are not extreme enough to force them to find a way to survive. Life in South Park is much less difficult these days, but I remember the wind, the horizontal snowstorms, trying to get home in the car at night with the headlights off because turning them on only reflects the light back into your eyes from the white wall of snow. None of that has changed. I remember, all too well, the terror of not knowing where the edge of the road stops and the cliff begins. For people in South Park this is not a one time experience, it is a way of life. People who grow up in places like that survive. I don’t think it is necessarily a conscious choice; it is just something that becomes a part of us, like the color of our skin or the size of our feet. We just do it, we just survive.
Spring is just around the corner in South Park, but they will endure some very treacherous spring storms before what I have always called “the snow flowers” pop up their little heads. As a little girl, I used to look for them, and when I found one coming through the snow, I would get very excited and announce it to everyone. They are little violet “furry” flowers and are my favorite, I don’t think you can buy them at any florist; you just have to find them in the snow.
I hope there are children in South Park looking for snow flowers, and I hope they will let me know when they find the first one.
posted by Jennifer Marvin at 1:37 AM
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