Still Waiting

We are still waiting for winter in the northeast--Skier and New Haven Ski Club member Pat Meyer captured the dismal spirit in Vermont perfectly with this recent FB photo post.

We all know that the probability of a powder day in December is statistically akin to the likelihood of a Mariachi band performing in a New Haven Irish pub, but still, we like to think the season starts just before the Thanksgiving Day parade floats get to Herald Square.

According to the December 23rd Bestsnow.net 2015-16 Ski Season Progress Report "The week before Christmas brought widespread storms to all western regions" setting them up for "an excellent holiday season, with all other western regions average or better..." (re snow, that is).  Not so in the northeast!  While Killington and Sunday River opened on October 19th, the snow didn't last long. Again from Bestsnow.net "With minimal natural snow and sustained unseasonably warm temperatures, terrain open at Christmas will almost certainly be the worst on record."  And it was. Is. Continues to be.

Since skiing sucks, all that's left is to read about it and reminisce.  Twenty years ago the 1995-96 season offered the northeast its highest snowfall since 1969 with December, February and April bringing the most snow.  But this year's December 22nd Washington Post described a grim situation from Virginia to Vermont.  December 2015 was on track to mimic the same month in 2001... Until this year's Christmas came and went without snow. The Buffalo News looked back at what happened there. Now, we just have to wait to see if the ski areas, shop owners and innkeepers have any chance of making up for their lugubriously late season start--and if any of us will have a chance to  use the snow gifts that were under our trees.

Officially overweight

Here it is.  News flash:  I am officially overweight.   Though it is not pounds that indicate the fact.  It is my BMI.  As of last year, I had no idea what that was.   But as of last week I knew enough to be aware that 26 can be a sobering, persuasive number.  After 7 days of alternating starvation and muscle fatigue, I’ve budged the scale three whole pounds, but the chart says BMI has remained constant.  I’m one square away from “normal” in both axis directions —x and y—weight and height. 

The value of each block is either 10 pounds or an inch; and though only one inch of vertical growth would nudge me into compliance, at my age the only viable option is to lose 10 pounds.

So, my only Black Friday purchase, the morning after a Thanksgiving feast rich in cranberry sauce and extravagant desserts, was a reduced price gym membership.   Walking forward, with my eyes straight ahead, I don’t usually have a good view of my body.  And this is a good thing.  It allows me to have self-esteem.   But in a gym the walls of the giant room with all the strengthening and reducing apparatus are made of glass.  You know, the kind of glass that has a coating on one side and reflects everything on the other side.  So BMI is in your face no matter where you look; and self-esteem belongs only to the women who are not wearing baggy t-shirts over their sports bras.

Monday night ski races begin next month and while I do believe that a few extra pounds might actually add propulsion to my downhill acceleration, I am willing to concede that right now, me in an aerodynamic, spandex race suit is not something anyone needs to see.  So, I’m back to the squats, the push-ups, the lunges and the treadmill.  The rollerblades have been dusted off and the dog is relishing longer walks at a zippier pace.  BMI be banished—Ski Season is approaching!