The Physicality of Winter

We're in the heart of an incredible Winter, with plenty of snow and ice for all sorts of great outdoor activities.  The result is sheer happiness, and a very tired body.

To whit, here are today's activities:  

• Awake on a Saturday at 6:30AM to prep for ski training by Noah and Jacob. Feed dog, clean kitchen, make breakfast, help pack bags, and deliver kids to Dartmouth Skiway. 
• Embark on two quick runs on the snowboard at 9am.  Second run includes a first-time traverse of an amazing double-black, unmarked, glade trail between MD and MBA/Herman's Highway that seems to go forever.  Exit the run sweating and smiling from the effort.
• Back home to take care of other errands; get to sit at desk for 30 minutes. Smile.
• Back to Skiway at 12:30pm.  Three more runs, including another pass at the afore-mentioned unmarked double-black diamond glade run.  More happiness. 
• Return home, and promptly climb on roof to clear last remaining snow on the flat but-oh-so-slippery roof atop my home office.  Tools include roof rake, shovel, and axe.  Thirty minutes later, 80% of the snow is cleared.
• Food needed ASAP: carbs, protein, water, sugar.  Inhale all of it.
• Join Elizabeth for a cross-country ski.  Ninety minutes later, after two major climbs and three fast descents, we are walking home.  Trails are sweet, beautifully tracked, and full of snow.
• Upon return home, climb roof again to clear remaining 20% of snow.  Then spend another 30 minutes clearing trenches of snow around home office so that snow does not destroy windows or siding of house.  
• Upon entering house, decide it is really important to do sit-ups.  Why?  Don't ask. Later, after 200 sit-ups, I collapse into bed for a 15 minute siesta.  
• Make dinner -- spinach, rice, and curried chicken.  Customers say: flavorful but not spicy enough.  Sigh. 
• After dinner, enter basement and tune four pairs of skis for an hour and 15 minutes.  
• Upon exiting basement, discover that Mother Nature has dumped 3-4 inches of fresh powder on my driveway and that the Lyme Dept of Public Works (who have done an amazing job this season) have plowed my road, leaving an extra crust of snow at the crest of my driveway.
• Spend 45 minutes clearing driveway of snow, knowing that Elizabeth must leave at 6:45AM tomorrow for a ski race at Sunapee with Noah.  

There it is: Winter 2011.  It's a bounty of activity.  In years like this, when there is plenty of snow and cold, I find myself outside as much or more than during the Summer.  Combine the exercise with the work of snow/ice removal, and it's a full plate of physicality.  

On a night like tonight -- with a clear sky, comfortable temps, and a 3/4 moon -- a person could wax poetic about this situation.  And believe me, I think this is heaven.  If there is an afterlife, this is what I want to do. Be outside and work, play, work.

But until then, I will be content to muster the strength to face each situation, and take Advil in-between. 

Comments

[Classic Timberland Boots]

I'm interested in such offer,The sound quality in these podcasts is really poor. I feel bad about complaining about something that is free, but I think it is important.