The Blue Mountain

My husband and I have visited the Blue Mountain for the first time with our friends. It's a beautiful place for those who love all kinds of winter activities. I myself don't ski, but my husband had to give his new skiing shoes some test runs.

In this place, it's always a few degrees colder than in the city where we live. When we left Toronto, we realized that the white winter is still reigning. I wanted to stop by every snow-covered tree, but my husband had some objections to moving at that pace.

It took two and a half hours to reach the Blue Mountain from Toronto. As soon as we reached it, my husband went to ski with his friends, and I was free to explore the area. He went off with a reminder to me not to go looking for troubles.

Have you ever visited a familiar environment, and yet you have found yourself feeling uncomfortable? On the other hand, have you ever arrived at a new place that you have no experience with, a place where you don't know anybody and have never tried doing the things that they do, but you immediately feel like you belong? This is the feeling I had when I visited the Blue Mountain. There were only two people there with cameras - myself, and another photographer, whom I will describe later. Everybody else was there with a purpose, armed with skis, skates, or snowboards.

Although my husband advised me to stay out of trouble, I immediately went off to observe some snowboarding, and I sneaked into an area where I wasn't supposed to be. This gave me a unique vantage point, where I could capture the shots that I now present to you:

I would like to call this series "Takeoffs and Landings".

This is the photographer that I have mentioned. If you look closely at this photo, you will see what a perfect shot he ruined for me. (...)

It was fun to chat with some snowboarders. If I were their own age, I probably would have developed a crush on them. But since I am my own age, all I could think was that I'm glad not to be their mother. When you see them fall down, and the whole process of flying through the air, it makes you freeze a little on the spot.

These spectators agree with me.

After watching the snowboarding competition, I went to explore the village, which appears very idyllic:

 

If you don't want to ski or snowboard, you can just skate.

The village transportation.

Those who have read my posts in the past may know about my obsession with roofs:

The interesting thing about this picture is not just the roof. You can also see a little spaniel in the window, looking melancholy, and probably wishing he could play in the snow.

On one of the pictures, you can see the biggest icicle I have ever seen in my life.

I was taking my photos when I felt somebody's presence behind me. It was a couple of big dogs, with whom I have made friends.

This is the beginning of the sunset. It started to feel catastrophically cold. We took off home. The day had been so much fun, even though my husband's skiing shoes turned out to be too big. Overall, I spent about 4 hours in this cold fresh air and I loved it. I want to visit this place again, specifically in the winter. The atmosphere there puts you in high spirits.