Welcome to my blog. If you are new, I’d love to hear how you found my blog. Did you stumble upon it, or was it an intentional visit? I’d love to know whose reading or if I’m just mumbling out into space these days. I know we are in February and Valentine’s was just yesterday but you see, January was a write off for me as I had a bad ski accident at the end of December. Recently, I shared the experience with my writing group and thought, gee, maybe my blog friends and family would like to hear the story too. So without further ado, here is the story I wrote about our Christmas 2023 experience. At the end of this blog post, I will include the video I just made sharing snippets from our memorable ski holiday.
Grab a cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa and I’ll tell you all about my recent holiday experience.
After taking down our 2022 Christmas tree, (yes, this all started over a year ago) and our older kids returned to their respective homes, I started contemplating how I wanted our next Christmas to look. After thirty years of buying all the gifts, wrapping them, decorating the house, baking dozens of cookies, and cooking the turkey with all the trimmings, I was tired. I wanted something different. Also, I wanted our family to be mindful of our environment and do better. I didn’t want Christmas to come in an Amazon box any longer. It was time for a change.
But as things happen, life took hold and Spring came and then summer. By the time the kids were heading back to school in the fall of 2023, I started seriously thinking about my intention for a different upcoming holiday. David and I had always dreamed of having a vacation home up at our nearby ski hill, Silver Star. But, with raising eight kids, it seemed like just a dream. We were able to afford to teach them to ski, and even took them on several ski holidays over the years, but we’d never gone away for Christmas.. I started running the budget numbers in my head and one day I went into David’s office and presented my idea. What if we rented a home up at Silver Star and took the kids skiing instead of buying gifts. I could tell he loved the idea when his eyes lit up and he leaned back in his office chair with a big smile on his face. After that, planning our Christmas ski holiday fell into place easily. .
Fast forward, here I am, gloriously flying on my silver Blizzard skis with the optic snowflakes etched on top. Snow capped evergreens blur in my peripheral vision, as I zip along the Aberdeen ski way. I’m heading to our last run of the day in the Silver Woods area. Around another corner and across a slight slope, I spy my husband David waiting at the top of the run. When I’m only a few feet away from him, I turn quickly, allowing my ski edge to dig deeply into the snow, which sends a mini blast of white powder into the side of his black outfit.. Momentarily, he looks like a snow wizard, who smiles approvingly at me as if to say, “you got me.” We both laugh.
I scan the run below us. Cloud Nine, is an intermediate blue run, with a few moguls thrown in here and there. Considering it’s Christmas time, this part of the mountain has been relatively quiet, with only a few skiers sharing the runs with us. We’ve been able to ski onto the lift without any wait all day. .A little way down and to the side of the run, I see our daughter Grace and son Harrison chatting, with snowy green sentinels, eavesdropping behind them. I click the picture, and tuck it into my mind’s album. On this last day of our ski holiday everyone has gone off on their own. Our oldest son Clark is skiing with his fiance Jessica, Our fourteen year old son Will is with his snowboarding friend Miller and our twelve year old twin daughters, Victoria and Kathryn, are skiing the back side with their best friend, Molly.
Everyone’s agreed it’s been the BEST holiday ever. We’ve been hitting the slopes every day. When we aren’t skiing, we’ve been soaking in the hot tub, or gathering around the large kitchen table, chatting and snacking, on an array of crackers, meats, cheeses, and endless plates of brightly decorated Christmas cookies. The younger kids have been dancing to the 2024 Nintendo, “Just Dance” video game, they got for Christmas. and if they aren’t dancing, Victoria’s been in front of the T.V. belting out tunes, on her new karaoke microphone and challenging everyone to join her. If I hear the song “Last Christmas,” by Wham, one more time, I may scream, but in a good way. While the younger kids have gone off in the evening to TubeTown, Clark and Jess have been huddled over the 1000 piece puzzle they found in our Air B and B, game pile. They work well together, he picking out and placing the coloured pieces in various piles and her putting the puzzle together. We’re all excited about their wedding next summer.
Back on the mountain and present time, I start to move my skis. I yell back at David, I’ll take the lead,” I push off and pass Harrison and Grace. I point one of my poles downhill, motioning for them to follow. It’s late in the day. It must be around 3 pm. Everything is starting to be peacefully muffled but the wind is picking up and it’s growing colder on this east facing side of the mountain. I’m thankful for my new goggles, which shut out a lot of the wind but don’t improve the worsening white out conditions. A crust is starting to form on the top of the snow and I’m needing to dig my edge into the hillside more aggressively, in order to turn well but inside I’m singing, “Best Run Ever, Best Run Ever,” while planting my poles and turning to that beat. Looking up I wonder if we’ll finally get some snow tonight since the heavy clouds are closing down above me and that’s when I spot the black crow again. We’d seen him flying while riding up on our last chair lift. Gracie had said something about him being a harbinger of something. What did she say? A harbinger of what?
Out of nowhere four hot shot skiers fly by me, their knees bump up easily to their chest while they dip in and out of the grooves in the moguls. I think to myself,” keep up, keep up, Lee. You’ve been skiing for years, before they were even born.” I watch them fly straight down the last of the run and soar on to the ski way below me. With that “Best Run Ever,” song playing through my mind, I follow them. Only the flat white, prevents me from seeing the trough at the bottom of the run, which I hit way too fast. It propels me up into the air with such force that I have no time to think, except, in the seconds before I crash onto the icy ski way, I see the image of that black crow again. Then I hit the ground.
I land on my back, a bit to my left side and hear a crack before almost losing consciousness, but I hold on because out of the darkness, I sense a person has skied close to me. “Are you okay,” a man’s voice floats down to me, from far away. Somewhere deep inside, I know I need to try to move and so, even though my legs are bent awkwardly back, I lift them slightly. Pain rips through my back but I know I’m not paralyzed. Thank God. “I think I’m okay,” I answer from my throat, not wanting to take a breath. When he sees me start to move I think he must have thought I was okay and he slowly skies off. I relax, not having to stay strong in front of a stranger. Where is David? I start to assess my condition. I slowly move again and knife-like pain floods my back. Don’t move, don’t move I think. Then I take a breath and then sharp, stabbing pain fills my chest, making me want to vomit. Shallow breath, shallow breath, Lee. Where is David? Finally, what feels like eons, David, Grace and Harrison arrive T on scene and I know, somehow I’ll get off this mountain.
Later that night, in our cozy Air B and B bedroom, with Advil and Tylenol pumping through my body, I’m thinking about my stupid accident and the black crow again. He was, a harbinger of something. He was trying to tell me to be careful. To listen from within and not allow my ego to get in the way. It’s been a wonderful Christmas. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss any of it. Even the pain. Isn’t it when we experience pain, we learn the most? So in a few days, when we ring in the New Year and in the upcoming months to follow, I think I will still be singing my Best Run Ever song, but I’ll be watching for crows.
The End
I want to thank you for coming to my blog today and reading about my recent experience. Looking back it was such a magical holiday in so many ways. The picture above was captured as we were leaving our ski rental. Even though I was heavily drugged with Tylenol and Advil, I wanted to remember even this moment for isn’t it when we have the perspective of the highs and lows, when we see life clearly? It puts everything into a chiseled focus for me. Family and Friends are everything. Taking care of the earth is everything. When we spent most of our holiday outside skiing (during a holiday when our ski hills snow pack was at historically low levels) I realized how much the earth nurtures my soul. I need it. I think we all need it. As 2024 unfolds for you, I pray for peace in the world but also hope you find what you need on your path.
And before my final goodbye, here is the link to the YouTube video I did sharing our Christmas 2023 moments. Enjoy!
And keep your eyes out for crows!
Blessings from Hope