I am off for four days for the New Year. So far, I am enjoying it a great deal. I saw Avatar yesterday. As usual, science fiction writers aren't great with dialogue but the visual experience and realization of an alien world is astounding. Seeing the movie was similar to what it must of been like seeing the first color film or talking picture. Today I went on a Colorado Mountain Club ski trip. The deep, fresh powder was perfect and the new snow on the landscape was beautiful. It was an older group. The leader and another man had been in the club for over forty years and had had hip replacements. They were good skiers.