You Can't Have the Blues If...

I remember once hearing a comedian talk about how you can’t sing the blues if:
You know who both your parents are
You are a teenager (you have too long left to live)
You have a retirement plan
You live anywhere with mountains

So there I was, waking up in the mountains with a pain in my back that made it so I couldn’t walk across the room without crouching. On top of that, I barely had a voice for the 3rd day in a row. And I have an overwhelming to-do list and no time to-do it.

Guy pointed out that there was about 8 inches of fresh powder on the car and I don’t sing while I ski (at least not when anyone is in earshot). So we loaded up the car and headed to Keystone resort. Guy was to be in a clinic all day and once again, I wouldn’t get to ski with him… hadn’t all season.

I arrived and schlepped my skis to the base area. When I arrived, I found NO lift line despite 4-6 inches of pow depending on what part of the mountain you were skiing. Guy called and told me his friend Nelson was skiing with his daughter and they would welcome me to ski with them. I wasn’t sure my back or lungs would let me keep up so I told Nelson I’d do a few runs and call him.

I went directly to the second mountain where I was sure there would be less people. Sure enough, the run I chose, Ambush, was thick with fresh snow burying the awkward bumps that had been hard to ski the week before. I skiied carefully, “Control Freak” style as Annie, the Bettyfest coach, would say. I went slowly with as perfect form as I could. My back wasn’t a problem as long as I did the bumps right. My breath was short but sufficient.

I caught the lift with a lovely lady whose family was a few chairs ahead. She told me about her son, obviously proud of his skiing. She had that incredibly gentle way of speaking that makes you feel like the whole world is fragile, delicate, and innocent. Turns out she is a neonatolgist at Memorial Hospital… her whole life is all about the most fragile, delicate, and innocent beings.

I did a nice bump run and considered grabbing some lunch. Oh, one more run, the sun was coming out. And there in the lift line is the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. He invited me to ride the chair with his group. When we got to the top, Guy asked the coach if I could ski with them… “come on along.” A couple more great bump runs with the ski instructors in clinic and we headed in for lunch.

After lunch, we did several other drills that they have done ad nauseum but I have never done. I was making progress. The sun was out full force and we were thinking it might have been smart to put on sunscreen after all. The days are also getting longer so we snuck in another run before the long drive home.

No wonder you can’t have the blues in the mountains… even if you try.