Now this is what I call WINTER
Feb. 1st, 2004 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkI admit I was a little relieved to see the cold snap arrive, and just as relieved to see it disappear in 3 days. Take that, elm bark beetles!
Today it is 15 degrees and gently snowing. I've been waiting for snow ever since mid-December when I enthusiastically waxed up my cross-country skis and oiled my ski boots, looking forward to a good winter for urban skiing. That lovely December snowfall was followed up by a mostly warm, dry winter, which isn't nearly as attractive as it sounds. There hasn't been enough snow to ski on since then, except last week when it was too cold. Today was lovely, provided you didn't want to drive very far. My default skiing place is the Hiawatha golf course, six blocks south and a mile east. Even with the snow still falling at a brisk clip, enough skiiers had been out there to make a decent trail. Unfortunately, most of those intrepid early skiiers were more ambitious than me. If I'd followed the tracks all the way around the perimeter, I'd still be out there, probably lying on a putting green while the snow softly covered me up. So I skiied out to the point where the trail veers off towards Lake Hiawatha, then bushwhacked my way back towards where I hoped the clubhouse was, and picked up an inbound trail just before I really got tired. End result - 45 minutes, pleasantly exhausted, and an 8-minute drive back home.
Today it is 15 degrees and gently snowing. I've been waiting for snow ever since mid-December when I enthusiastically waxed up my cross-country skis and oiled my ski boots, looking forward to a good winter for urban skiing. That lovely December snowfall was followed up by a mostly warm, dry winter, which isn't nearly as attractive as it sounds. There hasn't been enough snow to ski on since then, except last week when it was too cold. Today was lovely, provided you didn't want to drive very far. My default skiing place is the Hiawatha golf course, six blocks south and a mile east. Even with the snow still falling at a brisk clip, enough skiiers had been out there to make a decent trail. Unfortunately, most of those intrepid early skiiers were more ambitious than me. If I'd followed the tracks all the way around the perimeter, I'd still be out there, probably lying on a putting green while the snow softly covered me up. So I skiied out to the point where the trail veers off towards Lake Hiawatha, then bushwhacked my way back towards where I hoped the clubhouse was, and picked up an inbound trail just before I really got tired. End result - 45 minutes, pleasantly exhausted, and an 8-minute drive back home.
