Part of a skier's Christmas takes place in November. Not the part celebrating Christ's birth, I'm talking about presents. When skis, boots, or poles are on the wish list, there's no reason to wait until December 25th to give or receive. Most of my Whitman teammates would get ski gear for Christmas but get it in November in time to use it all season; waiting until the end of December to unwrap your skis is simply foolish. They need lots of layers of wax ironed in before Dec. 25th, and how would you do that if they were still boxed up in a closet somewhere? Not everyone agrees with me. Last year I was at home when a pair of boots came. I immediately opened the box and put them on, of course, only to have my mom materialize (how do moms do that?) and indignantly object that I couldn't have the boots yet since they were my Christmas present. Luckily, my dad & I managed to bring her around to our way of thinking, I even offered to let her rewrap them so I could open them again Christmas morning.

I'm thinking this because it's like Christmas over here, new skis!