I'm falling behind in writing about my bucket list, so I'll try to keep these next few entries short. It's been a busy holiday season and I've also been kind of antsy to get a lot of things accomplished on my bucket list. The end of this month is about the halfway point for my bucket list, and I wanted to make sure I had checked off about half of the things and had somewhat of a plan for the rest of them. So the last few weeks have consisted of a lot of planning and accomplishing, but not much time to write about them.
Among the things I was starting to get antsy to accomplish were the winter activities. During a "typical" Minnesota winter (if there ever is a "typical" Minnesota winter-- that phrase is kind of an oxymoron) there is plenty of cold weather and snow. Last winter was more brutal than normal: we had snow from October until the beginning of May, about 5 major snow storms (one of which shut down the cities), and several days of sub-zero temperatures. This winter I braced myself for a similar season and tried to find a lot of things that I could do while I was snowed in, and a few things that I actually enjoyed doing outside.
Surprisingly, this winter has been one of the mildest winters I can remember. The temperature has stayed above 35 degrees almost every day. We have only seen snow a handful of times, all of which melted soon after. And it's already the end of December. Trust me, I am not complaining. Not at all. After last winter, I really needed a mild winter like this one. But it has made a lot of the things on my bucket list a lot more difficult to accomplish. I wanted to go ice skating, but it hasn't been cold enough for ice to freeze. I wanted to go skiing, but the majority of this winter has been too warm for snow. I haven't actually been "snowed in" either. I definitely spend more time indoors now that it's colder and darker, but nothing like last year. I have even done things this winter that I really only like to do in nicer weather, such as visiting the Como Zoo and going out for ice cream. Again, I'm not complaining. But it has made me a little nervous. I don't expect the rest of winter will be like this, but part of me believes that it might happen. In Minnesota you come to expect the unexpected. So I wanted to make sure I took advantage of the few windows of opportunity early on, in case there aren't any later.
I also found out that Brian does not like to go skiing. I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. He hates amusement parks, etc. I can see how he wouldn't find much satisfaction skiing down a steep hill if he doesn't like roller coasters. But it was kind of devastating, because that is one of my favorite things to do. It also would be so much easier to go on a whim with him than it would be to plan anything with any of my other friends or family, since I see him pretty much every day and we both are usually aware of the other's financial state. So I figured I should plan this activity early, to make sure I didn't find myself in a position where no one I knew had time or money to go.
I could have asked almost any of my friends to go skiing, but instead I decided I would ask my brother if he would like to go first. Jake has been my best friend since I can remember. He's one of the most loyal people I've ever had in my life-- he has always been there for me when I needed him, and I have always been there for him. A lot of our friends were mutual when we were growing up, so I was able to enjoy having a close relationship with him for several years. Within the last few years, however, he has been going through a hard time and, unfortunately, I live far enough away that I don't have the opportunity to come see him too often. I also knew that he was probably going to be gone for a little while, so I wanted to spend some quality time with him. I thought he would just love to go skiing/snowboarding, since he isn't able to drive out there himself, and has been able to go about as many times as me in the last few years-- which isn't too many.
So I called him and he said he definitely wanted to, after he made sure he had enough money and as long as we could find a day that we both didn't have to work. He called me back a day or two later and said that his friend Tyler had asked him to go, as well, on a weekend that we both didn't have to work. He had even offered to pay for him and drive him, so I only had to meet them there. I've hung out with Tyler a handful of times, and I definitely didn't mind skiing with the two of them-- I really just wanted to be able to see Jake.
So we went the following weekend. And the weather was absolutely perfect. The day before had been the coldest day we have had this year (it was about 6 degrees), so we were lucky we didn't have to try to ski when it was freezing. But it was also one of the only days it has been under 32 degrees this entire winter. We were blessed with 25 degree weather-- just cold enough for snow, but not too cold to stay outside for an extended period of time.
Tyler and I traded off riding the chairlift up with Jake, so I was able to spend a lot of time talking to him and finding out what was going on in his life. It was really good to be able to sit down and talk about deeper things than the "what have you been up to" conversation, which has been the extent of our relationship recently, since we don't see each other often. It honestly could not have worked out better. I really miss him.
I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up. It was kind of a ridiculous concern, because I've been skiing since I was in 4th grade-- I just haven't gone skiing more than once in the last four years. But it wasn't an issue at all. In fact, I was really proud of myself, because I was able to ski on pretty much any hill without any problem. I didn't even bother to pay attention to the difficulty level of the hill, I just skied. I also had so much fun that I didn't have any desire to go in to the chalet. We did take one break to fix my boot and have hot chocolate and french fries, but we didn't take nearly as many breaks as I have taken in the past. There honestly could not have been a better day to go skiing.
I wish I could take more ski trips than I do now, but unfortunately they cost a lot more than I can afford at this point in my life. But that makes these trips that much more meaningful and worthwhile. I'm so glad I was able to spend some time with my brother-- I wish I was able to see him a lot more than I have been lately. But I'm just grateful that we were able to have a really fun day together, and hopefully we'll both keep making the effort to have many more. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment