For those who follow my blog, you have no doubt noticed I’ve been absent for a while. The holidays threw me off. Having Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on Monday, which is when I normally post my Mindful Monday posts, knocked me off my routine.
Since New Year’s Day, I have been trying to get into winter – that means embracing ski season.
In New England, where I live, winter arrived late. Normally I take down my Christmas tree on New Year’s Day. I woke up a bit sad that day; taking down the tree always makes me sad. Thus, I decided to leave it up another week. I’m glad I did, because I got to take a picture of my tree with snow out the window. We had a rainy December. Indeed, there was no white Christmas for us.
Jeff and I took the tree down January 7th. That was the first time we had snow. Since then we have finally been able to ski quite a bit, having just returned from eight days in Maine, where my family and friends were blessed with a lot of snow and great skiing.
My birthday was Saturday. I’m a bit north of 49 now, and getting a little further away each year. My friend Katrina and I shared a chairlift ride on Saturday and we both agreed we’d still like to be sharing chairlift rides well into our 70s.
One thing I have realized as my birthdays have come and gone is that age is a state of mind. I’ve never lost that mindset of being 20 of even 30. That feeling of being young and excited about life and new experiences has not faded with age. If anything, I’m more excited about life. My kids are grown. My daughter is married, and my son is getting married in August. We all get to ski together, and we also spend a lot of time together, having monthly dinner and game nights.
Although I do like new experiences, I have anxiety. Along with getting to experience new things, I usually have to battle through some nerves. In fact, my friend Katrina helped me master skiing in powder last week.
Being a girl who learned to ski on the East Coast, I ski better on ice than deep snow. They are two different skill sets. Well, when I was afraid in the powder the other day, she stuck with me, coached me, and I overcame my nerves and had a great ski day. Twenty-something Judy was very proud of fifty-something Judy.
I’m very happy I stayed out and skied that day. I now feel prepared to ski more varied conditions. The ski season in the East is still young. We are finally getting snow. Jeff and I also have a couple trips planned out West. I love winter. I know that no matter my age, I will always love the snow.
Despite a busy ski season, I’ll keep blogging. Sorry for my absence. See you next Monday! Enjoy your week.
Falling Upstairs 