Lately I seem to be on the road all the time. But the good part of it is that I seem to be going to wonderful places.  Today I am in Sun Valley, Idaho, at the very luxurious Sun Valley Lodge...I took this photo just down the hall..

..and the hall itself is lined with photos of famous skiers, skaters, etc.   Plus, for some reason, Gary Cooper playing tennis.

It took forever to get here from Boston. I flew first to Seattle (piiot to passengers: "Folks, Seattle is totally fogged in and it looks as if we might have to find an alternative landing site. But I'm going to first try to land in Seattle. Don't worry. We practice this kind of thing all the time.")

There is nothing one can do except grit one's teeth and hope for the best. And the best happened. The fog suddenly lifted; there was visible Seattle; and we landed.  From there I flew to Salt Lake City, where I had just 39 minutes between planes and had to get to a different terminal. But we landed on time, I ran, and made it for the last leg of my trip: the flight to Sun Valley.

It is beautiful here. No snow yet; the mountains and hills are brown and dotted with elk herds. The lodge is sparsely populated, with ski season still to come, and this morning at breakfast the only other guests were two tables of pilots. I eavesdropped of course but couldn't quite tell what sort of pilots they were; there was talk of search-and-rescue. I tired to listen intently when they discussed what airports are the most ... they used the word "hairy" ... to land in, so that I could avoid those destinations. But the one they all agreed about -- "crosswinds and ice" -- was Rollins? Rawlings? --- was something I didn't recognize. (No, not Raleigh/Durham.)

From the back terrace of the lodge one looks out on this large ice rink, with stands for spectators. I bet anything one of those old photos in the hallway is of Sonja Henie. Now there's a name from the past!  My sister had a Sonja Henie doll in 1943. I remember coveting the little ice skates.

I must have had something comparable, A Shirley Temple or a Betsy-Wetsy. We were always given separate-but-equal gifts. But damn. I really wanted those little ice skates.