Men in Red

OK, gang, real quick, cause I'm a workin' man now again and have to get up early to learn how to learn people to ski. Did I just write that? Actually, no Internet access for the time being at home so we're down the block sipping wine by a fireplace at the coolest little restaurant called Blue Angel Cafe. It'll be a great place to come chill after a day on the slopes.

So the T-Man and I are learning to be ski school instructors. That's our picture in our snappy new unis. We get a jacket, vest and ski pants, all red and all of which have to be returned at the end of the season. For keeps, we get a Heavenly ballcap and skull cap, a moisture-wicking undershirt, and a coffee mug! 

Yesterday was a long day of people talking at us and today was our first day in skis of the whole season. Never mind that we didn't make it off the bunny hill. Skiing is a different animal 20 years after you've learned it when you are going back to the basics, re-learning how it's done. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Lots of bad habits we develop. Our instructor today told us, "You realize what you guys have done, don't you? You've taken one of your passions and ruined it for yourself. You'll never be able to just 'do a run' anymore. You'll say, 'Oh, I caught an edge up there, was out of control over here, blah, blah, blah." I guess getting inside my passions and finding out what makes them tick is a character flaw I have.

We had a dinner tonight with lots of other folks who work on the hill. It was put together for employees--a $4 dinner! Ziggy talked to one studying instructor in our class who is living in his van while work-based lodging pulls through. Then we got home tonight and saw on the news that three girls died of carbon monoxide poisoning sleeping in their car at Squaw Valley, right up the road near our former home in Truckee. They were employees, perhaps sleeping in their car, waiting for work when their tailpipe clogged with snow. Crazy! So I feel very fortunate to have a roof over my head.

Heavenly had three runs open last week. The next two weeks, they say, they'll do a third of the business they do for the entire season! Other than the slopes, not much else new to report.

I got some news on my book today. I'll be getting proof copies of the pages sometime next week and will have a couple weeks to turn it around. It'll be so cool to see my work on solid pages! Santa will truly be visiting me next week, even though I'm sure to miss all of you as I'm away this winter. I'm sure Ziggy feels the same. Gee, this wine and burning wood is making me sappy!