Nancy's Blog: Suzy Snow Plow

Since we can't seem to get enough snow around here to make a single measly snow meatball, I decided to escape to the mountains on Tuesday. I thought I was being clever because it seemed like everyone in the world was heading Downtown for the Inauguration. I figured we'd have the whole mountain to ourselves.

Several hundred other people thought the same thing.

Bill and I are still hobbled by our soccer injuries so we stuck to snow tubing and wildly gesturing "thumbs up" while the girls embarked on their first skiing lessons. Lauren absolutely loved it and was disappointed to learn that ski school doesn't "meet again" next week -- same time, same place. Kristen had a great time but was slightly disappointed because her group did not advance as quickly as Lauren's group. She felt that she was ready to tackle "the big mountain", a.k.a. the bunny slope.

But...the happiest man on the bunny slope had to be Ski Instructor "Joe". He was teaching a motley crew of 4 -- "Justin", "I Need Help" (I.N.H), "Ryan", and "Girl in Pink Jacket". I know this because I.N.H. whined "I need help" about 400 times during a one hour lesson. She believed that she needed help for just about any task that might increase her heart rate a beat. Justin was more interested in knocking over the obstacles and tumbling into a heap then learning how to ski. It would not be a stretch to think he was deaf because he did not even acknowledge Ski Instructor Joe's repeated requests. "Girl in Pink Jacket" was the golden child of the group and that is why I don't know her name. She performed all the tasks flawlessly and didn't give Joe a moment's pause. Ryan was trying hard but couldn't quite get it. Eventually he slid down the hill and face planted in the snow and remained there motionless for about 3 minutes. Of course, this would be the time Ryan's mom decided to check in on him at the lesson. I could hear the slight panic in her voice at arriving on the scene with her young son face-down, motionless in the snow and Ski Instructor Joe in the distance trying to persuade Justin to stop pulling down the "limbo" bar.