Yeehaa! I was hurtling down a snow downhill slope tucked into a little rubber tyre. I twisted and whirled down the slippery slope and wondered why on earth I was subjecting myself to this… for the sheer exhilaration and the fun of it!
We had had our first reasonable snowfall and we headed out to see the countryside. The conifers were all touched with a soft cascade of white powder just like we see on a Christmas card and the bare deciduous trees had icicles hanging from their branches. The icy, grey shapes silhouetted against the bright sky like a scene from the movie ‘Twilight.’
We were glad to have some temporary respite in our warm car.
As we made our way to the ski slope, we spotted enthusiastic children who had made their first snowman of the season and others that had dusted off their snow kit and braved the outdoors for a bit of fresh air. We donned our newly acquired ‘snow pant’, ripped labels off thick gloves and beanies and headed out to the slopes. We were clearly the new kids on the block! Although the newbies, we soon got the hang of running up the slope and careering like a bat out of hell down the runway on our rubber chariots. We yelled out like kids as we whistled our way over the slippery surface, twirled over the bumps and finally came to a rest against the snow safety barrier. I looked around and realized that our time was up. We had been running up and down the slopes for nearly 2 hours! A cup of warm tea (or something stronger) and some relaxation were definitely called for.
So we need to preserve these happy recollections in our memory bank as they will need to be recalled when we are heaving snow off the driveway. According to local knowledge, it can become quite tedious. Thank goodness we are still the NEW KIDS on the block.