Freshies

I went to the mountains and found some "freshies" today. At least that's what the kids say. If you're over 26, hold a full time job, and don't call everybody "brah" (that's "Bro", as in "brother"), you might say that I went and found some fresh snow. You might also call it "powder".

This is the second week in a row that I got to ski the previously mentioned "Freshies". It was fantastic in both instances. Last week, however, I experienced the odd sensation of losing the distinction between ground and sky. It's a strange sensation to be sliding down a mountain and not know when it's going to take a sudden dip.

I find that skiing the "freshies" means that I have more wipe outs--but also that they're less painful. Last week, I ended up sliding down a rather large bump on my back with my skis straight above me. I'm sure those who were riding the lift directly above me were greatly entertained. Today, I took a good face plant, dropped a ski, and watched it slide 200 yards down the mountain. Thankfully, no one else was around to watch me hike/slide down after it.

Today, while eating my $9 piece of pizza and trying to not think about how I was being extorted, I was doing some counting. Apparently, I've skied somewhere between fifteen and twenty days this year. Perhaps I should be embarrassed by that. But more than anything, it strikes me (not for the first time) that I have a great wife. Not only did she let me go all those days (and that's a huge sacrifice since I'm so much fun to spend time with), today, when I told her I might come home early, she encouraged me--nay, insisted--that I stay longer.

This very well may be my last ski day of the year. I'm hoping to get a few in next year, but we'll have to see what Fatherhood brings. I know nothing is going to compare to having a baby, I'll never look back, and all those other things things that people say--but I also know that

I'm going to miss the skiing, the biking, the reading, the napping...