Casting back about thirty five years or so here. I had a basketball buddy who moved up to Granby, CO, and who worked @a ski shop in Winter Park. Made enough to pay his rent, eat, and buy himself a season pass.
I drove up one weekend in early December so we could ski as much as possible during his upcoming vacation week. Stayed in the house trailer he was renting up in Granby. Forty below zero every night all week.
We drove into WP each morning, assuming one of cars could be coaxed into starting, grabbed some breakfast, and headed for the slopes. Every day for about six days straight, as I recall it.
There was a nice little place to get coffee, ham n' eggs, English muffins...pancakes or waffles if you were so inclined. Maybe six or eight little tables, and with baked goods--donuts, muffins, that sort of thing in a glass case along the west side of the room...cash register, you get the idea. Remember, this is shortly before Christmas, so they also had some really well done gingerbread houses along the top of one end of the case, and on one or both shelves inside too. Centerpiece stuff, each one of these, and even then they probably cost over a hundred dollars each. Any model railroader would do well to equal such work, even if he wasn't working with frosting.
Good morning for skiing too, this particular day. Light snow coming down outside--gonna have a nice covering of new snow. Colored lights inside the eatery. Good coffee. Good way to start a day on the slopes.
Little gal working the register this morning. Stands maybe 4'10." Shorter'n Flo by at least six inches, and she had a bit harder time fitting donuts into the boxes, as she had to reach a bit higher up than the others, somewhat more overhead, just to get them out of the case and up to the top of the counter without a problem. To box things up, that is.
So we're eating when a BIG man comes in. Like 6'10," probably 350 and built like a lumberjack. Big broad shoulders. All muscle, this guy.
Dressed like a lumberjack too. Pendleton wool shirt, rolled up sleeves, lace up ankle high work boots, and red suspenders to top it all off. Big hands, and a big beard of course. He didn't have a blue ox with him, but otherwise a very good likeness of Paul Bunyan.
He also had a good sense of humor too....and very good timing as it turns out.
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All of us--the diners--couldn't help but notice him, and the ladies heads were all spun right around...those with their backs to him anyway. At least half of the gals were visibly drooling.
So he walks up to the glass case/counter, looks down at all the choices, and spreads his hands apart along the front edge of the case--full wingspan--which was easily wider than he was tall (I was watching all this from behind him, with my back to a window). And the little lady behind the case comes up on the other side, looks up with a pale face and big, wide eyes, and says: "Can I...can I help you?" She surely had to muster up some courage even to do that. I stood 6'5" myself back then, and this guy would easily have intimidated me too had he wanted to.
"Yeh, I think you can, little lady." Long pause as he's perusing the offerings...(it's grown a bit quieter).
"I'll take two dozen donuts I think. Mebbe....six...raised, six powdered sugar. Three coconut, three...chocolate cake...lessee...
...yeah, and six of them nice lookin' ones with the little colored sprinkles."
[There were a few quiet chuckles heard around the room at that last one]
"Certainly, sir." So she boxes up the donuts, stacks them one atop the other at the register, and comes back...looks up again. "Will there be anything else?" Still wide eyed, looking up almost at the ceiling.
"Yeh," he says. Another pause--almost everyone there is hanging on every word by now.
"Yeh....why don't you throw a half-dozen of them purty little houses in a bag for me too."
I nearly spit my mouthful of scrambled eggs all over the front of the glass case at that, and I was on the other side of the room. The whole place just broke up laughing.
She did too. She had a huge smile on her face when she handed him his change.
And he knew. A big, wide grin on his face too--when he turned around to head back out the door. But without that bag full of little houses after all.
"Oh Flo...more coffee please?"
