I can do it. Yes. I have done it before and I am agile, fearless, coordinated. But Sonny Bono . . . stop! Don't think about that. This is about you and you are strong, courageous and adventurous. You can DO IT!! Okay so I hold on to the rope and as I take hold of it, I take off trying to balance the skis in one hand and the swift moving rope with the other. Magic Carpet? Is that what they call this contraption? It's me and about twenty children taking the rope up. I'm the tallest by far and the most spastic it seems. Right when we are about to land to the top my skis cross and I go flying flat on my arse. My skis are now tangled in the rope and the unlucky boy with ginger hair behind me gets caught up in my mishap and falls into my mess of skis and bruised ego. I literally am stuck on my back like an upside down turtle flailing until I manage to unsnap the skis and bounce up as if all is fine. I ask the kid (we will call him Red for now) if he need help but he just glowers at me. Okay I am going to do this a couple of times before I get on the dreaded chair lift. I am on the trip with my man who happens to be one of those natural athletes that seem to be able to grace snow, water, air and earth like a mythical creature. He says to me the mountain we are to ski later is "just a little pimple! No big deal!" I tell myself he is right it's just a little hill. Almost a bunny hill. I skied last winter in Sun Valley beautifully. It's only been a year. Your body retains this like riding a bicycle. Yes. Okay. Deep Breath. I will try to master the magic carpet before I make my way to the chair lift. I am back on the rope. This time I am holding on with all my might and my skis are aligned. I am almost to the top and I am able to dismount without a crash. I get my poles lined up and take off. I feel the crisp air in my face, and am loving life . . . until . . . I can't stop. The pizza stance the instructor taught me doesn't seem to be working and I start to panic! I try using the skis to stop my momentum but it looks like I am going to crash straight into someone in front of me. It seems inevitable that the crash is imminent, so i just have to brace myself. I collide with someone and we fall into a tangled mess on top of each other. When I finally look up I see it's Red again. This time he turns to someone on his right and says: "That's her mom. The one I told you about!."
I hope all of you have an inspiring and illuminating New Year's Eve. ♥
