Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
Once upon a time there was a couple of middle class parents from average backgrounds who dreamed of giving their children a life more exciting and adventurous than their own. They found they both had a passion for the mountains and set about finding a house to fulfill their dreams.
On a holiday in the mountains one Easter the perfect house materialized. A mountain house with a stone fireplace, pitched roof with exposed beams, tree trunks as supports and an attic for the children’s bedroom. The girls squealed with delight when they saw the attic and begged their parents to buy the house. Thus was the beginning of their mountain adventures in ‘Cold Play’, their alpine home.
Summer in the mountains, they were to discover was just as special as winter when there was snow. There were trips down the mountain to swim in the disused quarry. Surrounded by pine trees with a jetty, a pontoon and a rope swing, the parents felt as if they were swimming in a lake from an American school summer camp.
There was bike riding along the historic rail trail and hiking in the ever changing Alpine National Park.
Winter though is magical, when a blanket of snow covers the ground and the sleepy village comes to life. Although there are many more people around there is also an uncanny silence in the mountains in during winter. Early in the morning walking with fresh snow underfoot you can only hear the crunch of the snow under your boots and the occasional cry of the huskies nearby.
When snow starts falling the whole family get excited. Falling snow is like the best Christmas present imagined, it doesn’t matter how many times you have played with it, the novelty never wears off. This is the place where the whole family can be happy away from the everyday realities of city life, their little bubble.
The perceptions of those with a house in the mountains is often that they are rich. But this family chose to buy the house to give their children a life rich in experiences, rich in family time away from everyday distractions and rich in memories. Already that investment is paying off with the girls becoming more courageous and adventurous than their parents could have ever imagined.
Follow my 2016 Winter adventure on the Facebook page Cold Play, Dinner Plain
Eeeeekkkk, now I will have to write!!