Ski Fest

This past weekend we traded the snow and ice in Waltham for snowier and icier Maine. This may seem like an odd choice of directions giving all my complaining about winter weather, but it was for a good reason--we were headed north for Ski Fest, the annual winter gathering for my summer ultimate team.

Natalia and I were in desperate need of a weekend away. Celia has been hanging onto a cold since early January and each time we think she has turned a corner, the trails out of her nose turn a darker shade of green. Andres has been fighting something too; his color has been off, and he has been waking up at night because he is having a hard time breathing. I've made countless trips to CVS to pick up medications for each of them...and, in fact, asked for the correct prescription but for the wrong child when I was there yesterday.

None of this is meant to imply that we were trying to escape our children for the weekend. However, when respite was offered, we gladly jumped at the opportunity.

Ski Fest is much as it sounds. We stay at a house about 30 minutes from Sunday River, and those inclined to go skiing do exactly that on Saturday. The rest of the group, myself included, often go for a long snowshoe trek. (I have tried skiing a handful of times, but I was not blessed with the winter sports gene, and I end up embarrassing myself whenever I strap on skis. I don't miss the mountain and the mountain certainly does not miss me.)

Saturday was a beautiful day for a long walk. A hard crust covered the snow, making it perfect for snowshoeing; we passed through open fields and then a pond frozen thick before making the return trip.

View on the pond.

Steering wheel/dashboard of an abandoned car.
(This is a rip-off of a much better photo that my friend Pete took last year.)

My buddy Rob, enjoying the hike.

Natalia and Liz on the pond.

Returning to the house afterwards, it was a glorious feeling to be able to eat a leisurely lunch and take a quick nap. Soon the skiers returned as well and we all sat down to a dinner of salad and pasta.

We stayed up late playing Xbox Kinect (a seriously fun experience) on Saturday night, but I noticed a different kind of energy than in years past. Many of us have kids now...and though they had all been left at home, it seems that a lot of our energy was left home with them. In a period of only a couple of years most drinking games have been replaced by multiple rounds of Bananagrams or ping pong; people retire earlier in the night, and winning the party has lost its luster as a badge of honor. Could it be that we are all, actually, growing older? Sadly I think the answer is yes.