Skiing
I was able to have a very fun skiing weekend this past week. Several friends journeyed up to Banner Elk, NC, about 15 minutes from Beech Mountain, where we went skiing. We stayed with the parents of one of the people on the trip during our time there. The weekend was nicely framed by the Olympic events we saw on Friday and Saturday nights, and there was also some wonderful conversation with Kevin & Lydia on the way to and from our destination. (See the post below for one of the funny things that happened on the car ride.)
This was my second time skiing - I had gone once last year- and it was very nice to follow up and feel I was progressing on my skiing. The conditions were awesome. There was a brisk snow falling, and there had been significant snow the previous weekend, so there was a nice layer down for us to ski on. The first trip, my memories were of a lot of plowing and a number of falls. Lot of fun, and yet I was looking forward to some smoother runs this go-around. It was nice this year to ease away from the plowing and do more zig-zag skiing down the slopes. It felt very exhilirating to get down the mountains and have felt in control on the way down.
As I was saying, watching the Olympics were nice bookends around our skiing action. On Friday night, the major thing we saw was the snowboard cross - basically a downhill motorcross course with jumps and on snow. The TV station had made a very big deal about a girl's unnecessary show-off move that had ended up costing her the gold. We had some very good discussion about that, and it was a sweet aroma of grace that came down and illuminated for us what is truly important versus what someone makes a big deal about. On Saturday night, we were able to watch men's individual speed skating - where Apolo Anton Ohno and the South Koreans were facing off. It was amazing to us to see Apolo Anton Ohno's determination and the immense skill of the South Koreans. Then, most awesome for me was the men's Super G downhill skiing. These guys were literally tearing up the course, going down the mountains at high speeds at such beautiful lines. You tried to imagine something like that happening on the slopes you were just at, and then that settles in how marvelous that control is at such a high speed. So inches away the reality of moving through at such speed and the outcome if that control was lost.
Closing with a quote from the movie Babette's Feast that sums up for me this experience of life: "We realize that mercy is infinite . . that [the right way is for it] to be expected with confidence and received with gratitude."
This was my second time skiing - I had gone once last year- and it was very nice to follow up and feel I was progressing on my skiing. The conditions were awesome. There was a brisk snow falling, and there had been significant snow the previous weekend, so there was a nice layer down for us to ski on. The first trip, my memories were of a lot of plowing and a number of falls. Lot of fun, and yet I was looking forward to some smoother runs this go-around. It was nice this year to ease away from the plowing and do more zig-zag skiing down the slopes. It felt very exhilirating to get down the mountains and have felt in control on the way down.
As I was saying, watching the Olympics were nice bookends around our skiing action. On Friday night, the major thing we saw was the snowboard cross - basically a downhill motorcross course with jumps and on snow. The TV station had made a very big deal about a girl's unnecessary show-off move that had ended up costing her the gold. We had some very good discussion about that, and it was a sweet aroma of grace that came down and illuminated for us what is truly important versus what someone makes a big deal about. On Saturday night, we were able to watch men's individual speed skating - where Apolo Anton Ohno and the South Koreans were facing off. It was amazing to us to see Apolo Anton Ohno's determination and the immense skill of the South Koreans. Then, most awesome for me was the men's Super G downhill skiing. These guys were literally tearing up the course, going down the mountains at high speeds at such beautiful lines. You tried to imagine something like that happening on the slopes you were just at, and then that settles in how marvelous that control is at such a high speed. So inches away the reality of moving through at such speed and the outcome if that control was lost.
Closing with a quote from the movie Babette's Feast that sums up for me this experience of life: "We realize that mercy is infinite . . that [the right way is for it] to be expected with confidence and received with gratitude."
posted by David at 12:26 PM
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