I have a game I play with kids in the winter to keep things positive when the weather is less than ideal.  Depending on the conditions and cloud cover I will offer a bounty of anywhere from a nickel to 25 cents for each cloud spotted while riding the chairlift.  The monies earned are applied at the Spielladen immediately following the resolution of skiing. (Spielladen is the candy and toy store at the base of Boyne Mountain. auf Deutch  spiel = play  laden = store)

I set the price so that my ceiling of $5 isn’t tapped until close to the end.  I also apply whining as a debit to the account.  Call it bribery if you want.  I think it teaches the young ones that every cloud does indeed have a silver lining. It also ends every trip on a high note, provided that we all maintain a good attitude.

So far this weekend I have had to up the cloud bounty.  Friday and Saturday the bounty per cloud was rolled up to $5 for ANY visible cloud.   There was no threat to a payoff until about 3 Saturday when my nephew Ryan spotted 9 harmless little puffs to the east while we sat on the snow outside the Eagle’s nest having pops and chips and soaking it all in.

The two boys thought they had scored a jackpot. $45 worth of candy!!!  This is especially important to Ryan.  He is to sugar like a frat boy is to beer. If he were old enough and knew about it, he would probably sell his plasma so he could immediately go on a sugar bender like some of my old college buddies were known to do.

Unfortunately for the boys, we weren’t on a chairlift at the time, so no dice.  (phew- got lucky there. I have to add a new bylaw that caps the payout without dampening the enthusiasm.)

Looking at today’s skies I think I’ll set the starting bounty at $1.25.  We might just be up to $5 by noon.  Maybe.  Either way I know we’ll be hitting the Spielladen some time around 3 and it will be smiles all-around.

-JJ