T
akeaclose lookatthepicture
on the far leftand tellme
whatyousee.Atfirstblush,
it looks likeabustedski trip:
Fourbuddies, ready for the
ridesof their lives, trekall thewayacross
thecontinent toamountainhamlet,only
to learn thatthere’snosnow.
Butthat’snotthecaseon two fronts.
Firstofall, there’sa tremendousamount
ofsnow justa15-minutechairliftridedue
northofwherewe’restanding.Secondly,
notallofuswerebuddieswhen thisphoto
wasshot.Threeofushadknowneach
other for20years, andone justmettwoof
them(andatthetime,hebarelyknewme).
Canyoutellwhichone?
TheolderIget, and themoreIreflect
on thepast, thefirmermybelief that
thingsaren’talwayswhattheyseem. It’s
amaxim thattranscendspersonaland
professionalboundaries: Ihadno idea
inseventhgrade thatIwasno longer
datingLindseySchaeferuntil Isaw that
shewhitedout the“ILuvAdam”she’d
writtenonhersneakers; Ihadno idea
thatthebest lobster in theworldwould
come fromaroadside lobsterstand in
ruralMaineuntil Iwasstarvingand
pulledover;andI’llprobablyhaveno idea
whenmy lastcolumnwillbeuntil theday
comeswhensomeonetellsmeIno longer
haveaspace inwhichtowrite.
’Twasalways thus, andalways thus
willbe.
Inasmuchasmybelief isever-
hardening,one thingI’m learning is that
theonlywaytoverify that thingsaren’t
alwayswhat theyseem— forbetteror for
worse— is togetout thereanddo it.Let’s
take thisoutwardlyappearing foiledski
trip, forexample.
Lee,C.T.,RyanandIwere in the
far-westerncornerofCanada.Our
annual ski trip(annual forLee,C.T. and
me)descendedon thestoriedslopesof
WhistlerandBlackcomb.Wechecked
into theFourSeasonsResortand
ResidencesWhistlerunder thecover
ofnight, sowehadno ideawhat the
conditionswereon themountain.Truth
be told,wedidn’tcareatthatmoment.
Theresortwasundoubtedly thenicest
ourraggedybodieshadevervisited, and
weweremuchmore focusedonactingas
ifwebelonged there thanwewereonthe
snowyslopes.
Ryandidn’thaveahardtime
distinguishinghimselfastheclassyone
inthegroup.ADallasrestaurateur,he
quicklyestablishedhisbonafidesatAraxi
Restaurant+OysterBar inVillageSquare
byspeaking intelligiblywithchefJames
Waltaboutour foodandwinepairings.
Lee,C.T.andI justsmiledandnodded. It
most likelyseemed likeweknewwhat
weweresmilingandnoddingabout.But
wedidn’t.Ryan’s legitimacywas further
buttressedthe followingeveningatthe
BearfootBistro,whereweateourweights
EDITOR’SNOTE
ByAdamPitluk
inseafoodand learnedhowtosaberoff
thetopofachampagnebottle.
As fortheskiing, lookat theother
picture.Thesnowwasunlike that found
here in theStates, andweessentiallyhad
theentiremountain toourselves,most
likelybecause theotherssaw that there
wasnosnowat thebaseandstayedaway.
Theyneeded toexperience itthemselves
inorderto learnwhatwedidvis-à-vis
perceptionandreality.
Oneofour lastingmemorieswas
downtimeat theScandinaveSpaWhistler.
It isacompletelysilentdreamlandof
poolsandsaunasandsteamrooms.
Perhaps thebestmeasurementofhow
wellwebondedwas thenumberof
shusheswereceived fromtheprofessional
shushers, employed tomaintain the
overalldemeanor.They likely thoughtwe
wererapscallions.
In thiscase, thingswereexactlyas
theyseemed.
ThingsAren’tAlways
WhatTheySeem
AdamPitluk
Editor
FollowAdamonTwitter
@adampitluk
14
OCTOBER2015
AMERICANWAY
For details on this year’s contest
and information about entering,
please turn topage44of this issue.
