Aspen Stories

Stories from the Road
January 31, 2018
Snowmass, CO.

Buying rugs in Islamabad is different than shopping in Macy's or Ethan Allen. When we walked in the rug shop, our group was immediately met by the owner who beckoned us to sit in a circle around a pile of rugs. He then summoned several helpers and gave tea orders while he began asking us about what we were looking for.

He would bring out a rug and tell its history. It was made in this village or that village by struggling families. The figures on the rug meant different things. I felt I was in a history class. It was a fun process, but there was no way after the lessons, tea, and attention that you couldn't buy a rug. It was OK with us because we enjoyed the presentation and had planned to buy a couple of rugs.

The shop wrapped our rugs in hemp with a handle so they were easy to carry. A few days later we walked through Pakistani customs with them, and a man yelled at me, " You can't take rugs from Pakistan." I thought this was an interesting statement since rugs were a major export item in Pakistan. The exit process from the country had been tedious, and I was fed up. I yelled at him that I was taking the rugs and walked by him.

Later in the states, a customs man saw us coming and became agitated. He raced over and began cutting the hemp suitcase from our rugs. He screamed that hemp wasn't legal, and after he was through slashing, we were standing there with two rugs. It worked out because we bought a light duffel to transport the rugs. In his fervor, he forgot to charge us any tax on the rugs.

Yesterday was another good morning of skiing on packed powder conditions. We covered thirteen downhill miles in the morning and rested in the afternoon. Last night Kris and Zofia brought Polish sausages and Polish beer to our hotel for a picnic supper in the lobby.

Clark Renner will be pleased to know that I gave one of the hotel staff a putting lesson. I reduced the process to 4 steps. Get you the line, body still, head still, pull the trigger.