When I first arrived on Tortola people would excitedly tell me about the skiing holiday they were going on – describing the the snow, the wooly jumpers, the open fires and the fondue. I thought they were crazy. Why on earth would you want to swap palm fringed beaches for ice?
5 years in and I understand. I love the heat and the fact that you can leave the house without spending 10 minutes layering up. Whereas before my handbag was filled with umbrellas, gloves and scarves, it now contains 3 different types of sunscreen. Even though I love the sun on my face and the fact that the sea is generally the temperature of a warm bath, I do sometimes look at my ankle boots and bobble hats with longing.
So, when we were invited to join our island besties on a skiing holiday in Colorado, we jumped at the chance. The thought of the cold was now exciting rather than dreadful. And as an added bonus, my new ‘impractical’ reindeer jumper bought before Christmas could have its first outing!
To Steamboat, Colorado we went in typical island fashion, beginning with our private plane to Puerto Rico – not as glamorous as it sounds, but still a bit rock star. After a slight hiccup with a lapsed ESTA and trip to the ‘naughty room’ in US immigration, we raced through the airport and were on the second of three flights – 8 hours later and we were in our apartment in skiing country. It even had carpet – so soft and fluffy that SBS (second born son) chose sleeping on the floor rather than on the more conventional bed.
The week was far from smooth – FBS (first born son) started off his skiing adventure being expelled from ski school (no mean feat for a three year old), but through my anger at his unacceptable behaviour I recognised myself. His fear of the unknown manifested itself by him kicking the ski instructor in the shin (with his ski boot on). I deal with my fear on a daily basis as a litigator, going into Court and being at the mercy of the Judge.
I tell people that being a litigator and having to speak in Court is like skiing. It’s controlled fear. You are petrified of what might happen when you go into the Court room / stand at the top of a new ski run, but you know you can do it as you are prepared, you’ve done it before. – you can get succeed without hurting / embarrassing yourself. But still, the entire time you are scared. It’s sort of thrilling, but terrifying at the same time. But when your hearing is over / you’ve reached the bottom of the mountain you feel amazing. You did it and you want to do it again.
It’s taken me many years to learn how to conquer my fears and now I’m seeing that same struggle in FBS. Ski school was a low point, but the week ended on a high, with FBS hurtling down the slopes with me trying to stop him from falling off the piste by holding him by his backpack reins, the joy in his face and his squeals of delight priceless.
Our skiing adventure was in equal parts stressful and wonderful – just like my life. But at least there were no early starts for half marathon training….
Love the blog. Keep writing. You describe everything so vividly that I can almost picture myself there with you! Hopefully FBS will have no more kicking episodes but at least they won’t be so painful on the victims when he wearing rubber flip flops!