Thirty-Four Year Old Teaches Herself to Cross-Country Ski

Okay, so it hasn't happened yet, but it will. I have carried around a free pair of cross-country skis for almost five years, and I actually got myself together this week to get them outfitted for use. I drove to a part of St. Paul that I hadn't been, climbed over a five-foot snow bank (skis in hand) and made my way back to the back of a small (tiny really) cross-country ski specialty shop to get bindings and boots.

Sure, the skis are probably a foot too long for me (most certainly fashioned for the use of an extremely tall man) and I will likely have to hold the poles in the middle of the shaft so that I do not throw out a shoulder, but I am going cross-country skiing this weekend.

We have a trip planned to our cabin this Sunday and there will be groups of people ice-fishing and another group ice skating. I am too antsy (and logical) to sit on a chair pulling a fishing line in and out of a frozen hole. Maybe I'll change my mind if I actually witness a fish emerge from said hole, but for now, that is not my choice of activity.

As for the possibility of ice skating, I hold dear the fragile connection of the ligaments in my knees and ankles, and I am pretty sure I would tear something if I tried to skate for any length of time.

Last time on the lake I took a long walk across the water, a bucket list activity if you have never done anything like it, and I started thinking about that free pair of skis that have occupied the corner of our garage for entirely too long. I will ski across the lake this weekend, and I am excited to try something totally new.

I don't know if this is going to become my next greatest thing, but it will be something that I can say I did, and who knows, I may really enjoy it. A friend of mine in Colorado wisely commented one time that, "in order to keep living life to the fullest, you need to find something each year that you want to learn how to do. If you run out of things to learn, you might as well be done."

I may not actually learn how to cross-country ski proficiently, but I hope to at least learn how to maneuver monstrous skis from car, to store, back to car, to cabin, to feet and hopefully to the other side of the lake.

I will report back next week with pictures and evaluations.