Postcards From Myself

Watching the Olympics the last few days reminds me of being here in Charleston. Why? Because we have had about the same amount of snow. What, 3 inches? But seriously, I watch the Olympics more for the scenery than any of the events. I mean have you seen the mountains in the background? Those long shots really make you want to go snow boarding, skiing, sledding, or at least drinking in the lodge by the fire.

I have friends who take ski holidays every year. They go to all sorts of places all over the world, yes rich friends, to take romantic ski get-aways. They have gone on holiday in the US, Canada and Europe. I will tell you, some of those places are beautiful and could cause you to fall in love even if you are an old curmudgeon like me.

I have searched many of these places on the web and have looked at the mountains through Switzerland, Germany and Austria. I love looking at those because you can get between them all by train and mass transit and never have to leave your relaxed state. (I love driving, but not in the snow.)

Of course I will tell you the truth, I have been skiing once. And that one time was when I was a teenager when I was much more limber and had better balance than I do know. I never made it off the bunny slope and nearly killed a young child in the brief time I was there. Luckily I am tall and he ducked and went through my legs. We both fell over comedy style after getting about 3 feet beyond each other. Somehow on that same trip I lost my pants to my thermal underwear but came back with two shirt. All in all, these are things that make me think I should stay away from ski slopes. Especially since I was on a church youth trip at the time.