.It's January, it's New England ....... well that can only mean one thing ...... ski season has arrived. In New England Spring is great ...... Summer is great ...... Autumn is great ..... but Winter is just fantastic.This blog post covers the first two weekends in January (this first pic was taken on the 2nd weekend).
Rewind to New Year's Eve ...... Jude had eagerly awaited the arrival of snow this year and as soon as it fell in the Boston area he hopped on the Ski train and off he scooted.
On his way to Wachusett Mountain on the Ski train Jude took these pics and sent them from his iphone (ski train has wi-fi - nice!) to his brother Kevin to help get him get dreaming about what awaits him and Lorraine on their upcoming ski holiday in beautiful Austria.
Seriously folks .... where would you get service like that?
Today in Fitchburg the Stars and Stripes was lowered in a poignant reminder of, and to honour the memory of, those poor kids who lost their lives in the recent tragic event at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut.
By the time Jude got to Wachusett he was geared up and multi layered as the temperatures had dipped to around 20f ........ or for those who do not understand the fahrenheit scale .... that's -8c. Seriously, are there still folk about who don't understand fahrenheit?
Wha?
A sight for a ski lovers eyes ....... a view from the chair lift of a perfectly groomed ski slope. Nice!
Ooopps .... man overboard! Unfortunately this punter was talking when he / she should have been listening, and has ultimately copped an unfortunate one! Hehehe .... this was quite a funny start to Jude's first day back at Wachusett this season. Ok ..... we shouldn't laugh folks .... but come on ...... hohoho!
Jude knows he is not 23 any more ...... get over it like ...... those days are long gone folks .... therefore for him to avoid copping an unfortunate like that punter he needs to make sure he warms up good and proper on the slopes ...... that means starting off by hitting the greens ..... and Indian Summer is the perfect warm-up.
Snowboarding is cool to do, if you are under 25. It is also very cool to watch no matter what age you are. Jude tends to watch from the ski lifts.
Wachusett mountain, like most ski resorts, is a community. Obviously it has has it's ski slopes but it also has shops, a pub, places to eat ..... the heap!
........ chucking it down on Ralph's Run he was ... chucking it down I say. That is Jude there. Where? The shadow ..... that's Jude taking his own pic. Cool ..... wha?
A New England Winter Wonderland. Nice!
For Christmas this year Jude got a cool new Columbia Ski jacket. Here he is showing it off .... as you do like...... wha? Anyway, it's in his favourite colour combination of red, white and black (now how did Santa know that)! And check out his cool new hat. Marguerite bought him that one ..... it's a clinker!
The views at Wachusett are just spectacular ....like this one headed towards Boston .....
....... or this one which is headed towards eh ...... eh ...... well if you traveled in a straight line out yonder you would eventually reach Ireland actually! 
Aye yer hat! And eh ..... yer balaclava too! Seriously, Jude had ear muffs on in below the balaclava ... laugh all you like .... in this cold you would wear ear muffs too! Upon seeing these pics a wee chat between Jude and Marguerite went like this, 'Jude, does your hat not fit you? 'Fits like a glove it does, why? 'Well, it doesn't look quite right, the white bit's too high'. 'That's because the balaclava is in below it .... and me earmuffs'. 'Did you ski around Wachusett like that today? 'Yeah why? 'Do you know you looked silly? 'Don't care!
A few days later and Jude is back at Wachusett (he never misses an opportunity). He is absolutely loving that Jacket ...... can you imagine what Christmas morning was like when he opened the gift and out popped thon jacket? He was one happy camper folks! Look at him he thinks he's just the business with it on him. 
This time is a few degrees higher, around 30f (fahrenheit .....anyone? ..... anyone? ..... ah nevermind) so he has ditched his hat, his balaclava ..... but hold on a cotton-pickin-minute ..... he's still got his ear muffs on. Cool, wha? 
Don't jump in ........ build it up ....... that Jude's philosophy when it comes to skiing ..... and soon enough he's up on the nice steep slopes. Like this one. Yer man in the grey there to the right copped a nice unfortunate one ..... arms, legs, skis, poles, hats .... the heap .... flying everywhere, magic it was, a real cool crash indeed. But Jude was too slow getting the auld camera out. You see ye gotta be quick with the camera folks!
Here's another one of those cool steep slopes.
'Hey check out me new ski jacket ..... wha? asks Jude
Jude likes taking photos ...... so we've established that a long time ago ....... and every now and again he reckons he has nailed a good one ........... well judge for yourself. Well even if you are not impressed ..... Jude thinks it's a cool pic.
Kim works with Jude at the Irish International Immigrant Center ..... she was also at Wachusett today. Nice jacket! 
Soon enough the sun set on another fantastic day's skiing in Massachusetts.
Beats workin!
The view from Wachusett Mountain, Massachusetts, ..... sure it's just beautiful. Three more months of this Winter Wonderland ....... perfect!
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