I had some difficulty posting....There wasn't much snow till Sunday, when we had to leave. But Gina and I did ski the Discovery Center, and the often overlooked Madeline trail in Arbor Vitae. This latter trail has some very scenic sections, but is marred a bit by a long, flat stretch in the beginning. Use this stretch for doing some breathing exercises, and the nordic equivalent of "walking meditation" http://www.wildmind.org/meditation/walking/overview.html , so that you will be in the proper frame of reference for the rest of the trip. The reason to be there isn't to train for the Birkie, or solve the worlds problems, or to lose weight. What is the reason to be there? To be there....
This trail holds special meaning for me, because it is the last trail my Dad used before he stopped skiing a few years ago. I remember him always skiing with a cigarette in his mouth. But Dad's main sin wasn't smoking, it was perfectionism. When in his mid 60's he couldn't go as far as he did in his 50's, he gave it up. If he couldn't go 5 miles, he didn't want to go at all. With both of us tired at the end of the 3 mile trip, Gina wished Dad was here, so she could "knock him on the side of the head". Me too.
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