Where's the party?

If you were to take a stroll in our neighborhood and surrounding streets on a weekday evening, you would think nobody lived there. There is virtually no activity after 7 PM. Where is everybody? Just because it is so dark, surely all have not hunkered down and resigned to another night inside away from the rest of the world. No, they have not. There is a party going on somewhere, where everyone is welcome, where light or dark there is just as much action. And where is this party? The cross country trail! Hop in your car, pack in your skis, and drive 20 minutes toward the hills, and there you find a flurry of activity. Kids ski teams, grown-up ski teams, friends, families, couples prepping their skis, donning their head lamps, tightening their boots and their gloves, taking a deep breath of crisp winter air and darting off on a silky white cross-country trail for a round of skiing before bed.