NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:

Vic and I had our Christmas dinner a little early this year — Friday, to be specific.

We try to get away every winter for a short vacation in Yosemite, and this time we topped off our vacation with the ultimate Christmas meal, the annual Bracebridge Dinner at the magnificent Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley. More on the meal a little later.

We began our trip at Tenaya Lodge just outside Yosemite National Park, where we spent several days playing in the snow with our son, Scott, his wife, Nicole, our three grandbabies, and Nicole’s mother, Maria Santesi. Snow drifted down from gray skies, covering the pines and cedars outside our window with mounds and heaps of fluffy white stuff.

We like to think of this annual winter pilgrimage to the Sierra snowpack as checking on next summer’s water supply for Southern California. There was less than a foot of snow on the ground, and with daytime temperatures above freezing, it was pretty slushy. In some places it had melted completely and sometimes the precipitation fell as rain.

In the winter, rain instead of snow in the mountains isn’t good. One of the unfortunate side effects of global climate change is warmer winters and a snow line at a higher elevation. This increased percentage of rain versus snow means earlier runoff and less water in storage for our summer drinking water needs. Even as we played in the snow, we thought about the environmental consequences of a changing climate.

Tenaya Lodge is a resort geared toward winter sports, with a special outdoor snow play area for children. We took the nearly 3-year-old twins, Allison and Lauren, snowshoeing. We bought them some special “snow paw” snowshoes for toddlers at REI in Huntington Beach. These cute plastic contraptions let them walk on top of deep snow and leave behind prints like a giant bear or snow monster. However, the girls seemed to enjoy admiring them on their feet while sitting in a chair more than actually walking on them.

The girls tired pretty quickly of the cold stuff and went inside for a nap. Maria babysat the three girls while Scott and Nicole ice skated, and Vic and I went snowshoeing up a closed, snow-covered road. My nearly 40-year-old snowshoes are old-fashioned wood and sinew contraptions with leather bindings, but Vic rented modern aluminum and rubber snowshoes from the concierge. Both worked fine, although I confess to tumbling a few times until I got used to walking in them again.

On our second day, we had the valet put chains on our cars and drove into Yosemite. We happened upon a small group of mule deer at the meadow by the Wawona Hotel. We stopped to let the twins see the deer. But as frequent visitors to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, they were unimpressed by the two magnificent eight-point bucks in the snowy meadow, accompanied by two does and an assortment of fawns. Allison chirped, “Go see elephants next!” We still have some work to do in explaining what animals live in what habitats.

After photographing El Capitan shrouded in clouds, Half Dome standing sentinel above the oak-covered valley floor, Bridalveil Falls cascading down icy granite walls and snow-mounded boulders in the Merced River, we drove back to Tenaya for a lesson from the resident chef in decorating gingerbread houses. Inspired by the ornate gingerbread houses at the train layout in the lobby, 10 families worked over their houses for two hours. Using pastry icing as glue, people affixed candies, marshmallows, bubble gum and cookies to the houses, and then landscaped the yards with trees, walkways, fire pits, barbecues, animals and vehicles all made of the same materials. Being white, the icing made excellent artificial snow! Vic made adorable snowmen out of marshmallows, with pretzel arms and candy eyes and nose.

Scott and his family left for San Diego the next morning, while Vic and I drove into Yosemite to stay for two nights at the historic Wawona Hotel. We had tickets for the Bracebridge dinner, a special treat for our 25th wedding anniversary. This four-hour, seven-course, black-tie extravaganza has been called the world’s ultimate Christmas dinner, and rightfully so.

We caught the afternoon shuttle to the Ahwahnee Hotel with our formal attire in hand. We changed at the Ahwahnee in time for the 6 p.m. sounding of heraldic trumpets, then marched into the dining hall to celebrate the holidays with a feast at the manor of Lord Merrick, Squire of Bracebridge Hall. The entertainment is based on Washington Irving’s 1823 piece, “Squire Bracebridge.” First performed at the Ahwahnee in 1927, the script was reworked by Ansel Adams in 1929 and has evolved over the years.

A cast of more than 70 people dressed in medieval finery entertained us with music and merriment while we dined. The dialogue was mock-Shakespearean in rhythm and rhyme. Traditional Christmas themes of good fellowship and peace to all were stressed, along with a healthy dose of appreciation for the beauty and bounty of nature.

Interwoven with the theatrical pageantry were the seven courses. Each course was paraded in by a procession of 35 waiters carrying trays of 10 dishes each. From the rolled and sliced fennel-cured trout (with sweet olives, avocado, upland cress and preserved tomatoes) to the Petaluma chicken bisteya in filo with green lentils, stewed figs, candied walnuts and roasted pepper puree, each course was a culinary work of art. The printed menu stressed that the chef used locally grown foods whenever possible and several heirloom varieties of vegetables. We approved!

Visit www.bracebridgedinner.com for more information. Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].