At about age 5, my father took me down to the Ketchum Idaho Depot to watch a special ski train from Las Angeles arrive. During the unloading process of the "somewhat-loaded" passengers, the young woman who had been elected Ski Queen of the train, clipped me on the back of my head with her skis. Since I was brave about the minor whack, she knelt & gave me a big kiss on my cheek.
That was nearly the high point of my young life, except for Ernest Hemmingway calling out: "Hello young man," when he saw me one afternoon, while he was walking into Ketchum from his house. I had been introduced to him earlier, since my father plowed snow for Hemmingway, & other less famous locals.
