Farewell Double Black Diamonds

Today, as predicted, I showed up for the one year follow up visit with the orthopedic surgeon. Together we looked at the photos of my hip - too bad I couldn't include them in the Christmas letter. "Looks good!" smiles Dr. McKay. "No reason you can't resume your regular activities." That's good, I say to myself, since I have been pretty 'regular' for the past eleven months. "What about skiing?" I ask, as that is the one 'regular' activity that I haven't resumed. This guy trained in Salt Lake, so I think he knows from skiing. "For the next year, you need to be cautious - no jumps, no bumps, no ( by now I am holding my breath) BLACK DIAMONDS! Ski the groomed trails only and we will talk about this again in a year." I suspect he thinks I will be dead by that time and the conversation will never take place! "I'm sorry" he adds as an afterthought.

Little does he know, this is music to my ears. For years, I have been following Fred and Kate down vertical slopes, over moguls, and into the woods in powder up to my arse, often with my eyes closed and a rosary in my glove, alternating between terror and focused fury. Well, never again! "See you at the bottom" I will wave as I get off the lift and head for the recently groomed trail marked with the pretty blue squares.

We are planning a ski trip in March and I can hardly wait. No more knees knocking as I perch at the top of something called "Execution" or "Mach Five." If you make it down the hill and into the bar, I should be pretty easy to spot. I'll be the one smiling and looking smug with a glass of something red in my hand recalling things of the past and those double black diamonds. Sometimes "bad news" isn't all that bad!