…means I’ve felt bored for the first time in a long time. Not counting winter break, of course…there’s never much to do at home. Although this time I actually made the most of my vacation. I don’t know why I didn’t do it in years past, but I decided to make living in Florida work for me…by driving out to the east coast and spending a weekend surfing. Maybe Boston was never cold enough in December to make me want to enjoy the warm weather back home, but 2 months of consistently below-freezing weather in Chicago made coming back to 80 degree highs feel so revitalizing.
That’s not to say I didn’t get a good dose of the snow before coming back. It snowed 2 feet in New Hampshire while I was there…that made for some brutal weather the first day there, but incredible conditions the couple days after that. It feels really weird that I’m coming to terms with the notion that I’ll be riding for a maximum for 10, 12 days this season when last year I was on the mountain almost every single day of the winter. I think I’ve made my peace with it, not so much because I’m okay with it but more out of necessity. I’d be totally unproductive if I sat around all day wishing I could ride more this season. It’s not without consequence, though…I feel like there’s something missing, especially on pow days. As much as I hated missing out on parties and barhops on Friday nights, I think I hate not getting first tracks in on Saturday mornings more. I tried throwing down like I used to at Loon over break…and realized I cut at least 360 off my spins since the end of last season.
I’d gotten used to people calling me crazy for devoting all my time to snowboarding. I wore it like a purple heart, proud that I was actually good at something and happy that I’d found something I loved so much I’d be willing to sacrifice (fill in the blank) for it. But now I wonder if they were right to call me crazy…I’m no longer as good as I was last year, and I’m barred from doing what I love the most by a lack of time and money.
Sometimes I feel like I should do the practical thing, let it go, and find a more accessible hobby. But a first love is a first love. It’s like when your first pet dies…your parents always try to cheer you up by telling you they’ll get another one, but you always say – with tears streaming and snot out the nose – “but I don’t want another one!”
I say this knowing fully well that I’ll never give up my board. I’ll be the (truly) crazy 80 year-old with the discounted senior citizen lift ticket, flying down the mountain on my 10/20/60 year-old snowboard.
That would make me really happy.
