Where's Winter?

I ain’t no meteorologist but I know winter was not supposed to end on the first week of February. I think most Park City locals can agree that it is way to early for grass to be revealing and flowers to be budding. Yesterday I went about a routine that would fit more into a June weather pattern. Late June. I wore a t-shirt to school, I ran in shorts and a tank top, and I almost got stung by a bee. Maybe you didn’t hear that clearly… A BEE. You know, Winter is one of my favorite seasons. And one of the many reasons for that is because there are no mosquitos, ants, or bees. 

Somethin’ is up. And I do not like it. 

We are exactly half way through our ski season but it is starting to look like it may rap up before the anticipated date. It is like Spring skiing up on the hill. Sixty degrees, sweatshirts, and slush. 

*Please take a second glance at that last sentence. It contains alliteration,  in which a number of words begin with the same consonant sound. Shoutout to my sixth grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. DeKoff. YOU DA BOMB<3*

ANYWAYS, Back on the topic of Spring… OH WAIT, it’s Winter not Spring. Sorry must have gotten the two missed up because at this moment they are lookin’ a whole lot alike and are very hard to distinguish. Oh man, I am heated. Heated, meaning angry but also a feeling of warmth, because I am not at all chilly like I am supposed to be during this season of Winter.

February 1st, 2015

February 11th, 2015

If you do not understand the pain I am in right now, you are probably live on the coast California and do not ever feel the desire for snow. OR you are from the East Coast where the snow is already abundant yet keeps on falling. I think mother nature has something against Utah… And I am bound to get to the bottom of whatever that is. 

I mean one week the high temperature is five degrees and snow won’t stop coming down. And then the low for the next week is fifty degrees and the sun beats down the entire day. OR it is fifty degrees and pouring down rain. RAIN. EW. 

If you have plans to visit Park City “the dream ski town” for winter vacation, I encourage you to change flights and visit Vermont, where those ski town dreams will actually come true. However, if you are THAT desperate to visit our town just make sure you throw a bikini in your suitcase. Your going to want it. 

Sadly, Mother Nature has left me with no choice but to anticipate more mood swings on the horizon. 

The Dreadful Loveliness

There is nothing more lovely than being forced to wake up in negative fourteen degree weather. And then being forced to train gates in it. And then being forced to strip down all jackets to a skin tight speed suit. I might as well be wearing a bikini. And then being forced to do it all over again the next day. And again the next day, and so on until the season ends. It's quite lovely you see, depending on how you define the adjective "lovely."

Look how "lovely".

If you are feeling a little slow on this fine winter night, I will be the kind person I am and end your confusion. This is an example of "sarcasm": the use of irony to mock or convey contempt. If you are still struggling to catch up, I will put it as simply as possible. In reality, all those "lovely" things I said before are not so lovely at all. As a matter of fact, I would describe them as the exact opposite: dreadful. With a capital "D".

I have a confession to make. I am not physically forced to participate in the sport of skiing each day. However I do it anyway. Why? I do not know. It must be one of those "interesting passions" we humans sometimes find ourselves caught up in. I feel astounded when I find myself at the top of Park City Mountain Resort each day in negative fourteen degree weather wearing nothing but a thin speed suit. (so practically nothing). But then I continue to run our course for the next two hours.

Man, I am a weirdo.

A couple of my fellow ski racers gettin' ready
to embrace the "lovely" outside world.

There is no other sport that is more weather dependent than ski racing (except for maybe sailing). For instance, say a huge gust of wind blows when you are running a course, setting you back a good second or two. This was purely the wind's fault therefore it doesn't matter at all. You could seriously have some once in a lifetime outstanding run, but then the wind completely wrecks it for you three gates to the finish. I guess it is best to keep Mother Nature on your side. Nonetheless, ski racers are probably some of the toughest athletes. We train through snow. We train through rain. We train through scorching heat. We train though thunder. HOWEVER, we do not train through lightning.

Sometimes I pray for lightning.

Don't tell the coaches I said that... Our little secret!

I am a ski racer. I should be tough. But once the temperature reaches the point where my coaches tell me not to leave the building without my face fully covered, or that moment when I have to pop blisters on my toes from the early stages of frostbite, I just can't deal any longer.

So Mother Nature, I know you are reading this because I have been requesting cold temps so our mountain can make artificial snow; you obviously granted that wish. You know how tough ski racers are. We are able to adapt to most of your mood swings, but this one is just a little far out of our reach. So, do you think you could possibly just bring us out of the negative temperature zone? It doesn't make our sport feel very lovely at all!

Not So Merry Christmas

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

Christmas lights are going up, snow if falling down, and the holiday cheer is all around! #PoetryByME. HOWEVER, it seems as though the jolly is taking place everywhere besides the place I call home. “Have a holly jolly Christmas and in case you didn't hear”. I guess we didn’t hear. 

It is December 7th, most families in Park City have their trees up and decorated. Well, all but one. 

What most houses in PC look like...
(Photo Courtesy: My Friend Shaye)

What our house looks like. 

Usually our family goes snowmobiling in the Uintas to chop down our tree. Not to mention the date of this expedition is usually December 1st. Today is the 7th. December 7th, and there is currently no big green spruce in my living room. Unacceptable. On top of that, I am also starting to get the vibe from my mom that this special Christmas tree hunting day is not going to take place this year at all. Intolerable. What are we going to do, buy a tree at the nursery? I don’t know that I could live with a “store bought” tree, they are too… Perfect! Every year my family ends up with a lopsided, scrawny, unattractive tree… It’s tradition! As far as I know they don’t sell any trees like that at the supermarket. “Rocking around the Christmas Tree” I hope we get to do this at some point. 

One of the three wreaths.

Christmas time is beautiful. Usually. Everything is covered in shimmery white stuff which makes all the christmas lights pop really well. The atmosphere just isn’t the same this year. The white stuff is completely MIA and the lights are dull against the mud and slush. AND, it was feeling a little hot today so I decided to check the temperature. Fifty degrees! IN DECEMBER. “I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know.” No clarification needed. 

I guess I should be happy because my family did put a record number of three wreaths up on doors around our house. But that is all we have… Oh wait I almost forgot! We also have these three little glass trees that sit atop our piano. Lots of festivity up in here! Not. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la la la la!” Apparently we don’t know what “boughs of holly” are.

To top it off, my sister, Katy, goes to college in Vermont. This holiday break she has been given the grand number of five whole days at home. FIVE DAYS. I’m not even kidding. Note to families who still have all their birds in their nest: Ski racing in college will be fun 99 percent of the time, but do not expect to see your child for a large portion of holiday breaks. It is the key time for training and the coaches are willing to do anything to take advantage of it. All I can say is that those five days that Katy is here are going to be crammed with all of the usual holiday activities. “All I want for Christmas is you!” Come home soon!

I am left with nine words, and two question marks: “Where are you Christmas? Why can’t I find you?” 

Life Is Good

It was 6:47 pm on a Sunday night and I was struggling to think of something to blog about. The usual thought process: “What is something that I can vent on that has recently happened in my life?” Then an unexpected thought popped into my head: “Wait, why do I have to write about something negative?” 

Now it is 6:49 pm and I have the idea. A blog post about how completely awesome and spectacular my life is right now.

Tuesday, November 11th:

“I live in Park City.” I have said those words too many times to count in the past year. Honest hour: I was lying. Whew! I’m glad I got that off my chest! I have been living in Peoa while our home in Park City was getting an addition. Seriously, how long can it possibly take to add a garage and one room to a house? Apparently an extremely long time. The remodel began in October of 2013 and was supposed to be finished in April. Then the date got pushed to July. Then September. November 11th. The day I finally became an official Park City resident. That is something to be more than happy about!

Takin' my pup for a walk in the fresh snow!

Thursday, November 13th: 

There is only one thing that can put a smile on my face when I wake up at 6:00 am to head to the dungeon, aka school: Snow falling from the sky! Any kid living in Park City can relate. Snow means the beginning of many things: Sledding, wearing puffy coats, Drinking hot cocoa, Wearing UGGS, ice skating, a possible snow day, feeling cozy, catching snowflakes on your tongue, wearing sweaters, and my all time favorite: Listening to Christmas music. I wait all year for that fluffy white stuff to fall from the sky so when the day finally comes, I am obliged to write about it. 

Friday, November 14th: 

Happiness in a box.
(Photo Courtesy: Nationwide Candy)

I am just going to put it out there now that most adults will not understand how this event made the cut to be retold on this blog. Most kids, specifically ones with Mrs. Alplanalp as a teacher, on the other hand will totally see my point of view. Fourth period. This is usually the time of day when students start to tune out learning. The only thing they want to listen to is the sound of their face hitting the pillow on their bed. Mrs. Alplanalp, is probably the only teacher that understands this. Mrs. Alplanalp also knows that any child, no matter what age, will wake up and participate for one thing: CANDY. It was decided that we would play Bingo. You can probably guess the winning prize. You could hear a nickel drop in that room. The game was intense but would shortly be put to an end. I looked down at my bingo sheet and saw heaven. Just kidding, but it was pretty close to heaven. A continuous row of bingo chips sat smiling up at me. You don’t understand how big of a deal this was for me. I thought I was the definition of an unlucky person. 

I am definitely going to try this optimistic blogging thing again some time! I hope my readers will realize that I am not as negative of a person as my posts make me out to be. Although voicing my troubles in life on this blog makes be feel good, expressing the moments of happiness feels even better.