Ratchet Weekend

Between the holidays the town triples and forgets its own name. Reservations made in August. Jackets that cost more than the cars they arrive in. The base of the mountain becomes a place to be photographed standing near skiing.

We do not write this with contempt. The loud week pays for the quiet ones, and the quiet ones are where the archive actually happens. Every record we keep was made possible by a December that behaved like this. We just keep the receipts in a different room.

Stay through midnight if you can take it. Leave before the fireworks if you cannot. Both are correct. Neither is remembered.