Fun to ‘work’ and back as naturally, day after day, as
Moon glow bows out to sunlit dawn
We just returned home after enjoying several days with
Barry, Marie, Tony and Ray in Lake Tahoe, where
The boys (aged seven and six), who’d never experienced
The pleasures of playing in snow country, were
Introduced to sledding (fun) and (work) snowboarding
Lessons (which will provide lots of fun once work
Produces skill so that as balance increases falling will
Lessen), and while the boys were engaged in working toward
Developing this long-range goal, Marie (who does not
Love winter sports—experienced her first day on
The mountain, which was fated to whip up
Bone chilling, nose biting cold—Brrr)
On the other hand, she was a good sport, choosing to
Sign up for a semi-private, three hour ski lesson with Will, which
Hindsight proved a bit too ambitious for both, since
Marie was less than gung ho about ‘playing’ in snow, and
Will has not been on skis for at least 23 years, so
Her attitude had need of tweaking toward the positive and
His expectations regarding resuming a sport as rigorous as
Skiing proves to be at age seventy-five proved
Unrealistic for this reason—My husband believed that
His skiing prowess would return in similar fashion to
Riding a bike—so if his spirit was gung ho then what was not?
Will’s natural athleticism (which had been well practiced on
The basketball court where he’d participated in
Competitive leagues beginning with his high school team until
He was about sixty-eight), seemedabsent on
The slopes, suggesting that diminished muscular strength of
Will’s arms and legs—necessary for poling and traversing as
He’d attempted to slalom downhill—failed to arouse
Muscle memory, which, decades ago, had offered him
Such a smooth gliding motion as his musculature had
Functioned as a well practiced whole so as to release
Memories of downhill skiing as having been
Physically thrilling and spiritually relaxing, all at once—
Need I go into detail concerning the fact that after
His twenty-three year hiatus, rather than feeling
Thrilled and relaxed, Will’s seventy-five year old body
Felt exhausted, causing his spirit to slide to half mast while
His mind, wrestling with frustration as
He’d worked his way downhill, found that
Unmet expectations offered a rude wake up call to
A man, who’d once participated in competitive sports so
Naturally that reality blindsided his present day smarts, which
Had no conscious clue as to how much muscle strength
Had been in need of exercising previous to expending
Energy during those three hours spent working at
Snowplowing his way down beginner runs, and then
There was getting up after falling down—by the lesson’s end
Will (who’d begun to downhill during his thirties and
Had quickly advanced to the level of intermediate, blue run
Parallel skier, whose sense of fun, during those younger years
Had included challenging himself to traverse moguls on
Steep, black runs) sat down next to me, during lunch, utterly
Spent, holding a cup of hot chocolate in hopes of
Warming his ice cold hands while I watched his
Human vulnerability openly confronting
This reality—deepening my reaction from
compassion to empathy upon hearing Will (who’d expected
His athletic prowess to pick up steam, during
The expanse of that three hour lesson), state, tiredly:
For three straight hours, I’d felt as if
I’d never been on skis in my entire life ...
My muscle memory has Alzheimer’s
So though Will’s spirit had sagged to half mast
His sense of humor—which had played
Hide and seek during the first twenty five years of
Our marriage, saved the day by turning frowns I pside down
And while we all absorbed the fact that Will’s experience with
Reality had not met any of his expectations
This quote, which proves all too true—no matter how
Youthful our spirits may feel—came to mind:
“Old age is not for sissies.”
—Erma Bombeck
PS
As for me, watching Will’s frustration cured me of
Reminiscing wistfully, thinking that
The only hindrance to my slaloming downhill with
The grace of a young gazelle was sciatica—having
Witnessed Will’s unrealistic expectations offered
My conscious awareness insight into my own—
On the other hand—my realistic expectation of
Working toward rewording the post published
Previously to this one in hopes of achieving
Crystal clear clarity has been
Accomplished—needless to say—
The writer in me has had lots of daily practice ...
And as the editor in me just glanced over
Today’s post, it’s a safe bet that
I’ll get to work tidying up this morning’s
Stream of conscious thought as soon as
Time permits—as for now, Ravi, with whom
I’ve not enjoyed a play date for several days, is
Due to ring my spirit’s chimes, so
Off with my work hat and on with
My happy grin, which wholly anticipates
Feeling so playful as to spend the rest of the day
Bouncing back and forth between laughter and fun!
PSS
Good thing Steven stayed for dinner when
He arrived to pick up Ravi—why?
Well, in addition to the fact that we always
Feel eager to see him, Steven offered us
Insight concerning a missing DETAIL that
Made sense after our son had listened to
His father frustration with exhaustion while
Snow plowing down green runs instead of
Paralleling down blue runs, designed for
Intermediate skiers (and snow boarders)—
“Dad, the first time I tried parabolic skis after
Snow boarding for about ten years
I felt myself skiing out of control, slip sliding
Down an easy run, just like you did, because
Parabolic skis don’t edge as deeply as was true of
Your skis, which have been gathering dust for
Decades in the closet of your garage, so
Don’t give yourself such a hard time”—and
Having listened to Steven’s personally perceptive take on
That MISSING detail which had most likely exacerbated
Will’s problematic experience on the slopes
My spirit’s smile emerged after hearing Will’s spirit reply:
I’ll keep that in mind—Next time ...
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