Winter sports

I've always been a big fan of winter. I like the sight and sound of snow. I love to see the trees with white frosting. I like the way a winter night can be so still. I love walking in the snow.

Last week I packed in the winter sports--skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding. I started to downhill ski as a kid, took a long break when I got married, and started again just long enough to tear up my knee. This winter I feel like I'm skiing better than ever in my life. I think the combination of finally experiencing complete recovery from knee surgery and my hours in boot camp squatting and lunging have made my legs stronger than they have ever been. I am not as afraid of falling, feeling more confident. I have discovered the joys of weekday skiing when the crowds are thin. I'm sold on that!

I went snowshoeing for the first time last week. I could take it or leave it. We rented shoes at the nature center and walked for about an hour along a marked and packed path. It was a beautiful day, great to be outside and all, but I don't quite get the whole snowshoeing part. I could have just walked in my boots. I guess I will need to find a place to get off the beaten trail to really appreciate the experience.

Sledding. Well, my boys are extreme sledders. They create these runs in our backyard that are almost like luge runs--dug out channels down the hill. The crowning feature, however, is the jump at the end. The build a launch that is nearly 90 degrees with a landing 10 feet away. They use foam sleds that you lay on face down. I love to sled and toboggan, spent many happy hours as a youth doing that. I wanted to try the run. My son said, "No, Mom. You shouldn't do this." Of course, the challenge was on, the gauntlet laid down. I had to do it now. I figured I could bail out before the jump. "No, Mom. You can't bail out. You'll go too slow and miss the landing." I had no fear, well, maybe a little fear, but I was not going to let my 52+ years stop me. I launched myself down. I went off the jump. I crashed. I hit the side of the landing, full force on my left side. "I told you so" was all I heard.