Mark and I have learned two things about winter during our parenting careers:
1) Unless we get out there and find a way to enjoy it, this six month season of sub zero torture will seem EVEN LONGER THAN IT IS.
2) By dressing appropriately and reframing our idea of “cold,” we are better equipped to undertake #1.
So when the mercury RISES to minus seven it is cause for celebration around here. It was with this in mind that we returned to this NCC cross-country ski trail on Sunday.
It was, as always, a dream. It was cold, but not uncomfortably so. There was a little wind. Every once in awhile the trees would shift and sway, and in their wake they’d send down a shimmer of snow on our heads. The sun would burst out from behind the clouds every once in awhile, just in time to illuminate these inner-forest snow showers. Magic.
Does it sound strange if I mention that I think that skiing has healing powers? It’s fitness. It’s family time. It’s a meditation. How does it help our brains and our bodies?
Speaking of which, I have fallen in love with the idea of riding my bike to Carleton Place for my birthday this summer. (Overnight, that is. Not all in one day.) Check out this route and then come back and tell me if I’m crazy.