Sticks and Stones...

I broke my ankle on December 28th, 2003 while skiing. Obviously this means I'll be off skis for a few weeks, and I've had to stop training my Rescue Dog, Storm. We're both whining about not being out in the snow. And it doesn't help that the snow has been falling in record quantities, and quality, almost every day since I was injured. But the inconvenience of a broken ankle pales in comparison to the arm that Bethany Hamilton lost in a shark attack while surfing on October 31st, 2003.

Bethany is not the type of person that will let something like the loss of a limb stop her from doing what she loves. She returned to competition yesterday, just 10 weeks after losing her left arm in a shark attack, placing fifth in her age group in the Open Women's Division of the National Scholastic Surfing Association meet at Banyans, HI.

Having been offered more time between heats, and even the option to compete in an easier class, Bethany rejected any special treatment stating that she wanted "to be treated like anybody else".

So while my broken ankle has caused me to realize that National Ski Patrol is no longer something that I want to do, Storm and I do share Bethany's passion for our chosen sports. It's unclear right now how my resignation from National Ski Patrol will affect Storm, but one thing is crystal clear. Storm and I refuse to allow this bump in the road to keep us from doing what we love to do. We'll be back on the mountain ASAP. MAYBE even as early as next weekend.

Powder Snow Days

In 1992 I was injured while working as a Firefighter. That injury changed my life forever, but not before it robbed me of most of my childhood memories. Despite the injury I still remember what I got for Christmas when I was just 5 years old. A shiny new sled. Several weeks later, and before I really got a chance to properly break in the sled, we moved to Florida. I didn't understand why I had to leave my sled behind. But like most 5 year olds my attention span wasn't very long and in a few short hours I moved on to new things and eventually forgot all about the sled.

Growing up in Florida didn't really offer very much in the way of cold weather. And it certainly never snowed! So we didn't have the luxury of Snow Days in the winter. No matter how cold we thought it was, it was off to school like any other day. I was forced to learn about the value of Snow Days by reading Calvin & Hobbes.

For me, school was very much like serving a prison sentence. I was a "quick study" so school didn't leave much challenge for me. I quickly became bored and sought refuge with Calvin & Hobbes, and a few other select destinations - like Daytona Beach! I wanted to be Calvin, and in some respects I suppose I was. But there was no snow, and no parole from what I considered to be my prison. My Mother always told me that "Some day I would look back on this and realize that these were the best days of your life". I disagreed then. And I disagree today.

These are the best years of my life. My answer never really changes, anytime you ask I'm likely to reply that "these are the best days of my life". And it's mostly because I choose to reward myself with Powder Snow Days. And because I have Powder Snow Days, I have freedom. Total Freedom. Of course, being the boss doesn't hurt either. And even on the days when I can't find a dollar to put in my pocket, I'm still richer than the richest King of Kings. It's because I reward myself Powder Snow Days.

So if you happen to call Crew Tags this winter on a morning that gave us fresh powder (a.k.a. "cold steam"), chances are you'll find yourself in "voice mail jail" while we reward ourselves with another Powder Snow Day. Not many of us have the opportunity to work for someone that will give us time off on Powder Snow Days. But I'm the boss around here. And on Powder Snow Days we all go skiing. So if you haven't already done so, I challenge you to write your own name in your own calendar and give yourself a few Powder Snow Days this year. You'll be glad you did!