Cross Country Skiing Again

Lake Erie from my front yard.

Today is another beautiful winter day.  The temperature is right around 20 degrees, the sun is shining, and the snow is glistening.  This morning (yes you read right -- morning) Den and I went to the south entrance of the Girdled Road Reservation of Lake Metroparks.  It was the third time we have been skiing in the park in the last week, and it was perfect again.  The woods are very quiet, just a few birds chirping and trees creaking in the breeze, unless you count the swish and crunch of the skis as they slip over the snow.  Den is encouraged to go on ahead of me, but usually says he doesn't mind staying back and skiing at my pace.  I try to make him work to keep up, but that only lasts a few minutes before my breath gives out and I have to slow down.

Someone at the park does an excellent job of grooming the trails and setting the track, and for that I thank them.  Most of the track follows fairly level ground, with only a few slight downs and ups, not enough to do much snowplowing, but just enough to keep me in practice.  But there is one fairly large hill, at least large for me.  The down part gives me plenty of snowplowing experience, and sometimes I even manage to stay upright on the skis. The track runs down the hill, turning left then right to go across a bridge over the creek.  Once down at the bottom, you have to ski up the other side.  That is the really hard part.  You also have to watch to make sure no one is coming down the hill from that side.  If they are, you somehow have to move to the side of the trail and let the downhill skier go by.  Supposedly, it's easier for the person climbing up the hill to move over than it is for the person going down.  That is the really hard part for me.  When I am climbing up a steep slope with long skinny skis on my feet, I tend to put my head down and try to keep a steady pace.  It's a good thing Den is usually up above me to warn me if someone is coming down.

Anyway, no matter how tough it sounds, or how cold, or slippery, nothing can compare with cross country skiing in the woods on a fairly level track and a beautiful, sunny winter day.  Every time we go out, I silently thank Ginny that she was persistent enough to make me go skiing, and to teach me how.


By the way, the picture accompanying this blog is the view from our front yard just at sunset last night.  If we looked to the west, there was really no sun as it was cloudy.  But right out front was this streak of pink between the gray clouds over the partially frozen Lake Erie.  Beautiful.

Book Reviews

In the last few weeks, I have read several noteworthy books.  The latest was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.  It was a very good story, and not hard to read.  I understand there are two more books in the series, but I am in no hurry to read them.  I want to spread them out a little. Maybe this is because Mr. Larsson died after he finished writing the three novels, or maybe because the writing was somewhat intense and I need a break before I can continue with my vicarious look into the lives of these characters who live so much more intensely than I do, or even want to.  Whichever it is, it will be a while before I read the next book in the series.

Another book I read recently was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.  Mr. Dawkins makes a very compelling case for there not being a god, even in the introduction to the book where he points out that there would have been no Crusades, no Spanish Inquisition, no 9/11, and a whole bunch of other wars, attacks, killings, and imprisonments if there were no belief in a god by anyone.  Science would also have seen more discoveries and been able to answer more questions if religious beliefs hadn't gotten in the way.   A very disturbing and enlightening book, but very commonsensical.

Before that, I read a novel called Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.  The main character's story of abduction was told through her sessions with her psychoanalyst, each chapter being a new session.  Even though we know at the beginning of the book that the main character was saved, there is still a surprise ending.  Very good entertainment.

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings shows us the richness of the author's life and his unquenchable thirst for writing, whether it be books, stories, or screenplays. In spite or, or maybe because of, his bisexuality, his zest for travel, and his friendship with world leaders (think Winston Churchill), Maugham was a prolific writer who never failed to write for three hours every day after breakfast.  This book was very well written and really good.