The Skier's Grin Return: It's the First Week of the Ski Season at Killington!!

It is here!!
It is here!!
After what seems likes months of waiting
(cause, like it totally is)
The first days of skiing are finally upon us :)

So, I was kindof a mess on the way there.
The whole Thursday afternoon opening meant I missed the first day in like years and was more than a little pissed off.
A day of skiing and I missed it?!?!
#?*$&@!!!!!!!

But it was okay.
I can be calm and accept missing a day on snow.
Especially since I was trying to be polite and NOT hike up before the year started.
Serves me right.
Always take snow when you can get it,
Right?

So who cares about Thursday
FRIDAY WAS AWESOME!!!!
(and not just because we got schmoozed with a free hat)

But because the mountain was open,
Everyone was bouncing in their boots just waiting on line.
People were smiling
And once again,
No one in this town had a care in the world
-- except SKIING!!!!!

So we ride up the gondola
then we hike down the stairway
THEN WE GOT TO SKI!!!

To hear the all too familiar
Click Click
As my heels attach themselves into my bindings.
I put my mittens through my skis straps
And feel the grips of my poles.
I bounce up and down on my skis,
Sliding one foot forward,
Then the other
I take a deep breath...
Then maybe another one because my heart is pounding way too fast
....and off we go!!!

Winter is Back!!
we are SKIING!!

My first two turns
I am kinda nervous
Will it be sticky?
Will it be heavy?
Will I miss my dad?

And then I realize....
Who cares if the snow is sticky?
nothing really matters
I am sliding on snow.
I am breathing.
I am turning.
I can feel the snow beneath my skis.
I am skiing.
I am alive.

And I am not worried.
Because my dad is with me,
Making his silly short radius turns
Where he looks like he is dancing,
He arms swinging gracefully from side to side
He is here.
With me on every turn.
Dancing.
Smiling.
And Skiing.

And So I start to dance,
And fly
And float
And smile

And finally,
I laugh.

Because ski time is play time.

My Dad wouldn't want it any other way.
It's how I was raised.
It's how I will ski.
Forever.

I meet up with the boyfriend at the bottom of the triple,
And below the tears in my eyes is growing a grin.
The grin that never goes away
It is bigger than a shit eating grin.

It's a Skier's Grin.

I look around.
And my grin matches Aaron's
And just abut everyone else's in the liftine.

Because we are all back home.

And so we go back up.
And Down.
And Left.
and Right.

While everything feels different this season,
It still all feels the same.
Friends are yelling down from the chairlift as we ski underneath
And we do the same as we watch someone get eaten by a snowsnake.
And we laugh.
And we grin.

Somehow,
The rest of the world seems like a dream
As we are up here,
In the Killington Cloud,
Skiing our lives away.

This magical place,
Where winter exists in October,
This should be the dream world.
And for most people it probably is.

But for me,
THIS is reality.
THIS is happiness.
THIS is Life, fully lived.
THIS is Skiing

May You Find the Spirit of the Mountains Within You,
❤ Merisa