Jason bought me a new snowboard for Christmas, a Roxy Ollie Pop C2 BTX that I named Pop Pop. Although I was very eager to try out my new toy, and a few post-Christmas storms left powder aplenty on the slopes, persistent subzero temperatures and woeful tales of skiers getting frostbite on their faces and extremities quenched my boarding cravings.
Isn't my new board cool? Okay, so you can't exactly see it. No big deal. That cheesy grin on my face is evidence of its coolness.
Finally, after weeks of downright miserable weather, Mother Nature cooperated with my boarding itch. The storm that came through here last weekend dropped about 8 inches of snow up at Brighton and then quickly dissipated leaving blue skies and pleasant temperatures. That was all the invitation Jason and I needed to overrun the mountain.
Jadon was a moody skier but he did seem to enjoy himself between bouts of poutiness.
My brother Drew met us up at Brighton with his wife Simone and their six year old Jadon. They spent most of the day on the bunny hill because Jadon and Drew were both trying to figure out the mechanics of skiing; we humbly stooped to hang out with them for a bit there amongst the hordes of tumbling learners. Drew has boarded a handful of times but he decided to turn traitor and give skiing a try. He didn’t look very comfortable on skis yet he claims that he liked skiing better than boarding. How is that possible? Boarding is the r0x’r! I guess not everyone has my excellent taste.
Jadon could do a decent plow but he often refused to go downhill unless someone was holding his hand-not the easiest task for a person on a board. Luckily, Jason could manage this awkward maneuver just fine with his crazy boarding skills.
So how did my Pop Pop do? My new board is a really smooth ride and carves beautifully. It took some getting used to though, especially since Jason also bought me new boots and bindings. Thanks to all my new gear my morning was a little rough, with some unnecessary falling, but after I got a feel for my new board buddy I really enjoyed myself. I can tell that Pop Pop and I are going to get along fabulously.
Have you ever had to search through miles of powdery snow for a lost $400 iPhone that could have fallen anywhere? No? Then I guess you haven’t truly lived. I can now say that I have. Here’s my tale of how our fun weekend turned into a phone search.
January is not my favorite month. It doesn’t have the pleasant weather appeal or holiday enticements that make other months popular; it doesn’t even carry in it the hope of spring like February does. So Jason and I decided that our January needed a little pick-me-up. We therefore made a weekend getaway to Midway with my brother and his family to enjoy the only things splendid about this month: snow and after-Christmas sales.
Isabelle, who only figured out that whole walking thing recently, didn't even try to move with all her snow clothes on. She would just stand there looking awkward until someone picked her up. Jadon was excited to have a snowball fight even though the snow was too powdery to really form into balls. Jason gripped me tight in fear at the mere thought of descending the tubing hill...okay, maybe not.
We started our snow fabulous weekend by tubing at Soldier Hollow. Since the tubing hill wasn’t crowded due to all those that savor sleeping in on Saturdays not being conscious yet, which usually includes me, we were allowed to hook all of our tubes together in one giant mass. Jadon, my brother’s five year old, loved it and wanted our cluster to make choo-choo noises as we cruised down the mountain.
After we spent the morning tubing we went to Park City for some serious shopping at the outlet stores. The frigid temps didn’t stop us from going store to store in search of awesome deals. We definitely found some. My favorite thing about shopping that afternoon was getting Jadon to help me pick out jewelry. He took offering his assistance very seriously and conscientiously evaluated all the available pieces before giving me his recommendation. It was very cute and quite humorous.
The setting for Final Fantasy XXXVI? It's quite possible. Streams of frozen water, glassy teeth of ice, playing in an ice castle is rather nice. As we toured the castles snowflakes were a falling. It added to the wintery wonder of it all.
That evening, after shopping, we walked through the famous Midway ice castles. I must admit that before this trip I didn’t know that such “famous” structures existed but apparently every year a guy from Midway makes these giant ice sculptures and keeps building them higher and higher through the winter until they are simply monstrous. They were pretty impressive and I guess they deserve their claim to fame since they attract about 40,000 visitors each year. If you feel inclined to view them I would recommend going after dark; all those illuminated icicles look mesmerizing and surreal etched out of a blackened sky. But don’t be surprised if the setting fills you with the desire to sport a furry loincloth or a sword of smiting, such props would seem commonplace among these frosty edifices.
This was taken at the top of the Timp View trail: wisps of clouds, a sprinkling of falling snow, and heaps of powder. Breathtaking!Jason the subjugator vanquishes the Timp View trail.
The following morning Jason and I were back at Soldier Hollow for some snowshoeing with Jason’s parents. This is when our phone troubles really began. We decided to climb a trail called Timp View; this path was marked as “most difficult” and it seemed to go up and up endlessly but the views just kept getting better as we crested one hill after another. It was beautiful and we even got to make first tracks since no one had trekked through the upper regions of the trail after it had snowed the night before. It was a refreshing experience and we got back to our cars feeling tired, content, and cold. That’s when Jason realized he was missing his cell phone. Ugh! Although he claimed that he had zipped all of his pockets up, he last remembered having his phone before we started our ascent up the trail, which meant it could be anywhere in the miles of snow we had crossed. With fresh powder everywhere, which a flung phone would just snuggle right down into, we both had very little hope of finding that allusive electronic but we thought we better at least give it a try. So we started backtracking up our path and I began calling his phone in hopes that we would hear it ring if we passed it. This plan only had a shot at working if his phone was set to ring not just vibrate, which was another detail that Jason couldn’t recall. Blast! Trying to dial his number, which required glovelessness, while trudging through snow proved too awkward and freezing so I headed back to the car to concentrate on my calling efforts while Jason continued to cruise back up our route. On my 22nd call he answered. He had miraculously found his phone near the top of the trail. He would have passed right by it, since it was indeed buried in the snow, but he heard it ring and dug around until he uncovered it. Yes! All that teamwork paid off. Everyone was shocked that we were actually able to locate the phone, including the workers in the lodge that had told us it was a lost cause when we had reported it missing. What can I say; the Rachel and Jason team is a pretty darn good one.
So that is how our fantastic Midway weekend turned into a seemingly futile mobile search and then ended happily ever after after all.
Christmas represents a lot of different things to different people. For many it is a time of gathering, of renewing connections with family and friends. For some it is a chaotic blur of shopping and hosting that leaves exhaustion in its wake. To others it signifies a renewing of hope and faith in the goodness of the human race and in the future of mankind.
For me I think Christmas is a little of all of the above…and perhaps more.
Jas and his brother Matt: crackers with cracker crowns.Jas and I are rarely pictured together so this photo is a treat. Wes was all about cheesy smiles as he played with new toys aplenty.These are the men of my family-or at least the portion of them that was present and willing to sit still for a moment.
Like most people, Jason and I are super busy at Christmastime. I am a very organized person so I start my Christmas shopping well in advance but even with my abnormally early preparations there still always seems to be a general shortage of time to accomplish all that needs to be done before the big day. We love that we live near both of our families and so are able to spend time with each of them on Christmas but this double family whammy sometimes isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Many a Christmas has passed where Jason and I have had very little time to ourselves and haven’t even had a chance to open our Christmas presents to each other until midnight or later. I love our families but I love Jason more. (Sorry fams, you can’t seriously think you can compete with that boy.) That’s why I was so grateful when our family get-togethers this year weren’t all scheduled for Christmas. Jason’s family gathered on Christmas Eve while my family members spent a few hours with each other on Christmas afternoon. This left me and Jason some sublime time for sleeping in and making breakfast together on Christmas morning. Fantastico! Since our holiday evening was also free, shockingly, we gladly used it to make a yummy dinner of chicken marsala and gingerbread cookie sandwiches. Lovely, lovely, lovely. I think I’m going to have to insist on less packed Christmases in the future-I can’t go back now that I’ve had a taste of that restful sweetness-I’m hooked.
We gave my sister and her husband longboards for Christmas. John was so thrilled about his board that he had to go right out into the freezing night to give it a try. Our nephew, Jadon, was very excited about his candy cane and homemade sweater. And I was excited when I realized that the two canes in this picture are chiral images of each other. The chicken marsala I made for our Christmas dinner was scrumptious! Thanks Robyn for the great recipe. Jason bought me a new snowboard for Christmas. I was eager to give it a go in our living room.
So what does Christmas mean to me, besides busyness and the crammed family schedule that we somehow avoided this year? It means fun and crazy Black Friday shopping with friends and family. It means hiding presents for Jason in the “secret closet” until the closet doors will no longer close and being supremely excited about my ingenious gift ideas for that superb man. It means spoiling the members of our families that we happen to draw the names of pretty rottenly. It means listening to Christmas music and being unable to keep from tearing up a bit. It means watching nieces and nephews open new toys with the magic of Christmas all over their faces. It means feeling the conviction that mankind is capable of more. It means having a great excuse to spend time with family and friends. It means partying. It means being generous. It means filling a dreary month with some light.
Christmas is spectacular, and tiring, and thrilling, and sometimes exasperating…but I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
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