The snow is falling back home. Ski resorts are open and there is the ever-present talk that this ski season is going to be the season of all seasons. Sitting in Africa, sweat dripping from my face as I sit and type on a computer, snow sounds good - any amount. Enough to ski would be nice - but any to cool the place down a bit would be welcome. I think I miss snow so much that I have started to see things.

I swear cars here have ski racks. I wouldn't really blame anyone here with a rack on their car. In my personal opinion, the ski rack is as necessary to any car as the rear-view mirror or windshield wiper. Probably more so. You have three mirrors standard to see the cars around you - definitely overkill. Two windshield wipers are nice - but who hasn't had them both become absolutely useless in the snow - having to reach out the window and give them a good snap to shake off the ice and rime while speeding down the highway. Useless. Ski racks, however, are indisputably useful. How else are you going to pack the car fully of buddies and post-ski beverages and carry all the necessary gear to shred the gnar during the day? You aren't. Its that simple. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not hating on African cars with ski racks - to the contrary. I know my car in Colorado looked naked without a ski rack. Driving inside of a naked car can make one feel very self-conscious and I don't recommend it.

There aren't any mountains around with enough snow to ski for thousands of miles. Simply mentioning the word snow here makes most people cringe. On certain days I would guess about 2-5% of 4x4s I see on the road have ski racks. Next time you are stuck in traffic, count 50 cars, imagine yourself in Africa, infinitely far from snow, and picture at least one of those cars with a ski rack. Are you losing it? I want to shake the hand of the African drivers with ski rack laden vehicles. I want to congratulate them. I would then ask if they knew what the rack on top of their car was for. I would guess only 2-5% would get the answer right.

I made the mistake of sharing my ski rack theory with visitors. With their eyes scanning the road, we managed to see nothing but the normal cars one would expect in Africa - all rack-less. Embarrassed and disgraced, I was sure that I've been seeing things. Maybe my yearning for snow is causing me to hallucinate. I would have agreed, and caved to the snickers of my fellow skiers looking unsuccessfully for ski rack laden cars on the streets of Dar Es Salaam, if it weren't for a sign from the ski gods themselves.

Walking down the dusty, sweaty streets of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, I stumbled across the answer. Thinking I was day dreaming of the white stuff and mountains again, I caught the word 'skiing' out of the corner of my eye. Sitting on a small table displaying shoe-shine accessories, with no cover, but in otherwise fantastic condition, lay a 1960 edition of the Encyclopedia of Skiing. If I thought my visions of ski racks was slightly eccentric, now I was sure that I am not fit for a life without snow. With my non-existent Swahili and the the shoe shiner's none-existent English, I left the conversation with more questions than I started. For 5000 Tanzanian shillings, however, or the equivalent of $US3.30, we conducted a transaction that made both of our days - no, probably our entire month. I finally have proof that I'm not losing it. Now I just have to hunt down a picture of one of those forsaken African cars with a ski rack. Then I can be positive that I'm not delusional.

In the meantime - I will continue to pray for snow, here, in the heart of Africa.