I enjoy going to local ski hills in Montana during the summertime. If one is lucky, the (a) lift will be running folks to the top to hike, wander around, or just enjoy the views on the way up and down. And I can say that Red Lodge did not disappoint!
And I imagine, based on the lack of people around, that I am the ONLY visitor in Red Lodge not attending the parade at noon 😂!
Still, it is wonderful to have the space all to myself.
But hopefully no bears!
Way back in the day, BeeHive activity’s guru, Glenda, used to take groups of residents up to the chairlift at Snowbowl, our favorite ski hill during the winter months. I gladly volunteered as a helper for well over eight years, but then one day the ski lift operator asked Glenda… ‘How would we offload your residents in the event of an emergency (the lift stopped functioning)?’ Upon realizing there was no way we COULD evacuate residents safely from several feet above ground, and with ladders no less, she no longer took folks up. But one, special memory forever emblazoned in my mind is the day I invited Mildred M, a former school teacher and resident living in BeeHive #2, along for the fun. Somebody had canceled last minute, and so we had an extra space, and she was the first person that came to mind 😊. She suffered from dementia, but only is the pleasantly confused type. I didn’t realize she had a terrible fear of heights until she and I were halfway up the mountain and she kept asking, ‘Is it over? Can it be over? Oh, when will this be over?😩’
During the entire, forty minute up-and- down, she was leaning into me, and I was grasping the waistband of her polyester pants, trying desperately to hold her upright in the seat (polyester is incredibly slick on vinyl!). At Snowbowl, there were no safety bars that came over the shoulder to harness us in. I just kept reassuring her… ‘It’ll be over soon and then we’re going to have a niiiice slice of pizza.’😂😂 You see, when I invited her along, I simply asked her if she wanted to go to lunch, knowing full well she wouldn’t understand what a chairlift ride entailed.😂😂 My bad😂😂!
But alas, the chairlift ride eventually ended, we offloaded Mildred, and proceeded to enjoy a lovely lunch on the patio overlooking the beautiful Snowbowl ski runs. Several weeks later, her son stopped into my room.
‘I think my mom is really losing it,’ he said. ‘She keeps talking about being up in the mountains.’ 😆😂😂😂😂😂😂
