sober lifestyle

Temperature

๐Ÿ“: Bolton Valley Resort in the Green Mountains of Vermont ๐Ÿ”๏ธ

Get you a partner who loves all your favorite activitiesโ€ฆand isnโ€™t the least bit fazed by single-digit temps when itโ€™s time to go out and be active.

It was 3 degrees in the sun when we hit the slopes for our annual ski trip โ€” first time in New England; woo! Different world!โ€” and my husband took his hands out of his gloves multiple times to snap us some pics. No cell phone camera could do justice to the breathtaking majesty of the winter landscape we beheld at Bolton Valley Resort, but you can at least tell by the icicles in our hair that Iโ€™m not kidding about the cold.

J-P and I have never been ones to let something silly like โ€œextremes conditionsโ€ keep us from enjoying our outdoor adventures. (See past posts from Elk Mountain, PA, and Ithaca, NY.)

It took me two weeks to get around to writing this reflection, and the weather here in suburban Philly today (Valentineโ€™s Day) is positively balmy compared to what we were dealing in late January.

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sober lifestyle

Ability


The video was my husbandโ€™s idea, and in hindsight, Iโ€™m so glad he โ€œpulled overโ€ trailside and took it, because otherwise, Iโ€™d have precious few visuals to use with this post. True, itโ€™s a poor representation of the lovely images flashing through my memory of our late Valentineโ€™s date at Elk Mountain Ski Resort. But despite how nonchalant I might seem transitioning between the โ€œMahicanโ€ and โ€œSchuylkillโ€ runs, I was far too focused on staying upright, injury-free, and warm, to go through the trouble of digging out my phone and snapping photos of my own.

The views at Elk were breathtaking, and I mean that literally. In the moments I felt controlled enough to look up and out, I found myself gasping, yelling, โ€œLook at that!โ€ to no one in particular, and smiling so widely and for so long that my face froze, painfully joker-esque. ๐Ÿคก

Outdoor activities always seem to morph me into a jubilant little kid; I donโ€™t need to be an expert schussing down black diamonds to feel the intoxicating rush of the purest โ€œnatural high.โ€ Skiing offers a potent cocktail of freedom, empowerment, possibility, and connection to all thatโ€™s โ€œrightโ€ with the world.

I mean, when I was an actual little kid tagging along with the ski club at my auntโ€™s school back in the Midwest, I remember spending entire outings tugging on the tow rope and snowplowing down the bunny slope and feeling the same exhilaration.

Skiing reminds me that the mere ability to move, regardless of skill level, or how I look, is a precious gift. A celebration of life.

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