To the skier on Big Mountain:
I have considered your situation and your stated frustration with “having” to ski by the Statue of the Man on federal property (Dec. 5 Beacon: “Whitefish Jesus Statue Challenge Salvaged by Local Atheist”). That fleeting moment, for you aren’t forced to stop, must be hell! But if you do stop and look, it’s really a common gesture. The guy is merely showing with his hands the size of the fish that got away! I doubt that would bother you, for it truly comes down to a question of perspective.
No doubt exists as to your real frustration knowing that all those churches and temples that you “have” to drive by each day are filled with people actually praying to catch you. And you need to be caught, for now you are that fish out of water ensnared in the net of a group of Wisconsinites who have money and a lawyer standing in front of a judge sworn to uphold the commonwealth of the majority of Montanans, if he will do so. I would question the Man must move merely because you choose that one ski run over all the others, but such is the minority mindset today.
Here are your logical alternatives: ski a different resort; ski a different run; allow Montanans to do as they please in their own state; join rather than beat them; or stand proudly as the vanguard of a Wisconsinite moneyed minority. I pray you choose correctly.
Winnifred Storli
Kalispell