This morning, bright and early (9:45), we fought our way through morning rush hour
to get on the Funitel at Squaw Valley
and finally to work.
Of course, we have to have a lunch break. All employees are entitled to that. Excellent fish and chips, stew, and beer at The Auld Dubliner in Squaw Valley:
Alpine Meadows, California. 9:30 AM, temp around 22 F, 7 inches fresh snow.
Skiing on these (love my lady Samurais):
Just enough snow to cover icy bumps and make The Face look tasty:
The trees in the D chutes under the chair really were tasty, no shark bumps:
Followed by lower 3 Sisters:
Bumps beneath on 3 Sisters were okay.
It was a tad chilly at the top in the morning:
The highly variable weather turned to this after lunch:
It turned so dark they had to turn on the lights!
The best part of the day: seeing the Alpine Meadows Adaptive Ski school in action:
Note: My brother died of suicide a little less than two years ago. The man in these photos was one of his best friends. That makes us suicide survivors. This post is dedicated to suicide survivors everywhere and is intended to show you that you can feel good again. It takes love to get there. Let it in.
Note: All quotes in this post are things my friend said today.
Squaw Valley, USA, January 9, 2013:
Temp: cold. Windy, storm coming in from Alaska.
From top of Shirley Lake, ski across Links, cross land bridge, hike to top of Broken Arrow lift.
Love abides.
Problem: Twisting to look over shoulder while taking a step up stairs causes sudden pain in lower back that shoots down to… ahem… gluteus maximus… into back of leg.
Cure: Relaxed skiing with family.
Alpine Meadows yesterday: Temp high 40s, sunny.
main run.
How do you fix a pain in the back side?
This beautiful “spiritual” place was built on the backs of slaves.
Many slaves plummeted thousands of feet to their deaths
while constructing these terraces:
At the summer solstice, the sun rises right through the notch on this opposite mountain.
Experiencing that sunrise expands the spirit and changes you forever.
The Rapanui, the ancient people of Easter Island, the old theory went, committed ecoside, chopping down all the trees and bashing each other over the heads with them. True?
Maybe not. Read my favorite book, The Statues that Walked, by Terry Hunt and Carl Lippo, and decide for yourself.
http://www.thestatuesthatwalked.com/The_Statues_That_Walked/Home.html
The ancient Rapanui rocked! (Literally.)
Modern Rapanui are funny. What’s wrong with this picture? Hint: ancient Rapanui didn’t have rebar.
Modern Rapanui are handsome and very smart. (Christian, tour guide and historian:)
What negative stories of places or people did your travels debunk?
Skiing alone is a joy. Totally unfettered by the needs or desires of others.
Hubby laid up by previous day’s parking-lot fall. Good wife would stay home giving TLC. Bad wife went skiing. Good hubby totally supportive! Wife not worthy…
Alpine Meadows 1/5/13. (38 degrees Fahrenheit, sun mixed storm front, on little girls, old Rossie Mach 2s about 50 or 60 centimeters underfoot? Old but quick.)
All info obsolete by the time you read it.
Moment skis are in.
Brandon is a champion SKIER. (Be still my heart.)
The tension in this novella (100 pages) rocks.
Intense conflict for him (total hunk of a hero) and for her.
When Brandon’s somewhat estranged mother comes over to see him in the beginning, I felt all tensed up inside because of the way she treated him growing up. And then she expects him to put on a happy face about the wedding from hell.
For Olivia… the situation is just the worst thing ever… but no spoilers here.
This is a quick read. For full enjoyment, go into it without reading the blurb, any reviews (besides this one), and let Ms. Novak take you on a fun ride.
So why do it?
Dialogue of the day:
“Did you have fun today, honey?”
“Yes, until I fell in the parking lot.”
(See reason #1 not to ski.)
What do you find fun that others might find… not so much fun?
Nicci Carrera 