Loosely sandwiched between Halloween pumpkins and holiday nog is that time of year we know as Wintumn: the season that’s equal parts autumn and winter. It’s not official, but it’s very real. It’s when fireplaces wake up and bikes settle into the rafters for a long winter’s sleep. It’s when the leaves have fallen but the snows have yet to arrive en masse. You know it’s Wintumn when you reach for your jacket and take to trails traveled mainly by squirrels and birds on their last minute rounds.
Wintumn is that time of year when Martis Camp gets a little quieter, and a bit cozier, the list of things to do in Truckee and Lake Tahoe is laced with holiday spirit. This Wintumn is no different. There are holiday tree lightings throughout the area, including Martis Camp’s own tree lighting ceremony on Saturday Nov. 29th. At The Family Barn, there are folk school and art classes on making wreaths, ornaments, cookies and gingerbread houses. Complimentary holiday family portraits are held Nov. 27-29th at the Camp Lodge. The Family Barn and Camp Lodge serve up Thanksgiving meals, the skating rink opens with our winter festival days, there’s a friendly snowman contest, the lighting of Chanukah flames, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive with hot chocolate at the Camp Lodge on December 21st, showings of Warren Miller’s latest ski flick “No Turning Back”, and arts and crafts fairs from one town to the next.
Perhaps the pinnacle of Wintumn is that late afternoon of the last Thursday in November when homes glow with family and food (not to mention a prime time faceoff this year between the Niners and Seahawks). There may be a pre-meal game of hoops or backgammon followed by a fireside telling of the same stories told last year that are somehow more amusing than ever. It’s the kind of picture which reminds you that — while golfing and skiing and a day of lounging at Tahoe are all great attributes of Martis Camp — it’s moments with family that are in fact the most precious; moments that most commonly bloom in that window of time between yellow leaves and new fallen snows.
From your friends at The Camp, Happy Wintumn to all!
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