The Cure

I know I've been a little MIA for while now. I can explain.... I've been a little sick. OK, more than a little, a lot. To the point where past the hour of 2:00pm I was in bed. I believe I had a touch of bronchitis, or others seems to think I was on the cusp of pneumonia. So.... I went skiing. With pneumonia.

Ordinarily, I'm a severely snow adverse person. But once a year, it's nice to embrace it for a day. This year was Steamboat. The first time I ever visited Steamboat and skied there, I was 10 years old. I wore green glasses that looked exactly like the ones Tome Cruise was sporting at the time and I had my very own chapstick. The black and white kind. I slept in a gymnasium full of other girls. The trip was for girl scouts....which I despised, because I hated selling cookies. I was back in Steamboat a few years ago and was overwhelmed with what I remembered of it and what it had become. As a grown up, I now understood that the little ski town has it own little culture. Something that I like to experience, but not become. I also got lost on the slopes. I came down bruised and crying, and vowed to never come back. But I did.

This year I was convinced to go to the top of the summit and ski all the way down. Now, I know the basics of skiing. I can handle it, but the thought of coming ALLLLLLL the way from the top was a little, shall I say, overwhelming. The ride to the top was worth the all the terror coming back down. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was completely still and quiet. The only sound about me was the purr of the lift and the faint swoosh of a skier below. The trees were stone still and covered with white. Mounds and mounds of white. There was no bark, nor limb showing, just white. Everything was white. Except the sky, which was the most perfect shade of blue there is. If I thought heaven were covered in snow.... this is what it would look like. It was hard for me to grasp the beauty in it. I wanted to dislike it soo much, because it's so cold, but I couldn't deny it's majestic magic and how it encompassed me. It was breathtaking. If I could show you pictures I would, but my memory will have to serve for now.

I made it down with only three falls. Which in my instance, is pretty good. I like to think of myself as a decent athlete, but skiing, is a different field for me and I lack the confidence it takes to be really good. Mainly because I'm afraid of hurting some little 5 year old out there that just happens to be sitting were I fall. Luckily I have a brother-in-law that follows me and waits patiently as I come down. I think he just stays with me so he can get a good laugh in when I fall, which is OK, as long as he helps me up.

I spent the rest of the weekend reading next to the fire or in bed. Feeling much better.