As we left for skiing yesterday I told Gerry, “I’m scared, but not nervous – I know I’ll be okay, but I’m also aware of what might go wrong…”
(at least I didn’t hit a tree…)
Controlling speed is hard to master,
I speak from personal disaster.
The longer skiis made the challenge easier,
but with each run I got much queasier.
And yet my shoulder aches and creaks,
But not as much as it did last week!
In the end I chose to walk away
so I could knit another day.
So I have one more day of skiing lessons next Sunday. I’m not loving it. I’m not hating, it, either – and I feel as if I’d REALLY be into it without the dual worries of Gerry falling and me hurting myself so badly I can’t do my work.
This past week was a slow work week, I got less than half as much done as I wanted because of the pain in my shoulder. So yesterday when I did a few runs down the bunny hill (stopping each time – bravo me!) but then lost control and fell, I knew in my heart that the most prudent route would be to walk away from the lesson 20 minutes early and live to knit on Monday.
The instructor was great about it, “You’ve worked VERY hard today…” so with that sanction I returned to the picnic tables and enjoyed the sun while Gerry and Max skiied.
Gerry’s still on the bunny hill, but he’s got a lot more control than I do. He said that he never really felt the frightening ‘out of control’ feeling he’s felt in the past when he stood on a skateboard.
I think his reduced height (6″ in 2 years) and his lighter weight both helped his mass not outperform his muscle. And I also think the Wii’s been helping his strength and balance.
But my problem seems to be that my height + weight together give me so much mass that I just don’t have the muscle to control my trajectory.
So although I’m not saying “Goodbye, forever!” to skiing (next year I am DEFINITELY going to attempt cross country at Como), I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m more of a snow-tuber than a downhill-skiier.
Or, as I like to think of it, I’m a “Snow Potato”