Monday, February 25, 2019

The Seven Minute Interview

     During the week I am mostly skiing with my geezer pals and riding the lift with them.  We swap stories and entertain ourselves with various observations about the weather, the news, the ski conditions, new equipment, and so on. The approximately seven minute lift ride goes by a bit faster that way. 
      My weekend skiing gives me an opportunity to meet a variety of people as companions on the lift ride.  It can be an eclectic mix of characters and individuals.  Sometimes my seat mates can be totally silent and completely engaged with their own thoughts.   Because I enjoy hearing other peoples stories, I have adopted a plan to engage my companions with my own informal interview.   There are all kinds of opener comments or questions to get the ball rolling.   I try to gauge what to say by the age and gender of those with me.   Most of the time we have a grand conversation.  Often in the seven minute ride I can determine where they are from,  where they grew up, what they do for a living, if they are retired, and something about their ski experiences and their family.
          I think that as a geezer they consider me to be non threatening and they are likely to open up to me.  Likewise, I have reached a certain maturity that allows me to freely express my life experiences as a way of connecting to the humanity around me.  Finally, I am amazed at how much ground can be covered in a seven minute ride of the ski lift.  It's a tremendous benefit along with the downhill ride on the skis.

Friday, February 8, 2019

What Else?

   When the ski day is abbreviated by less than favorable conditions what else would you do?   Although our ski area was open and functioning after a night of heavy rain, there was not much to brag about for the snow that remained.  Fortunately some early morning grooming made things tolerable.   After a short morning of a relatively few runs and some coffee break conversation it time to go home and look at what else the day had to bring.
     With the extra time available, it was an opportunity to dispose of some paper accumulations in my study and then a long winter's nap.  Going out to dinner is also on the agenda since a kitchen renovation is in progress.  Over course this extra time sent me back to blog writing.
     Geezers can always find some way to amuse themselves beyond the slope.  Just downloaded a new ski tracker app on my smart phone.  Now is the time to learn more of its ins and outs.

Monday, February 4, 2019

Absurd Weather Changes

   Last week I skied in sub zero temperatures as a result of the polar vortex.  Great skiing with Bluebird days.   Most of my geezer friends were sitting it out at home.  However a few of us intrepid tough old geezer skiers had lots of fun.  Coffee breaks were especially appreciated.
    Today the temperature on the same ski slope was 56 F.   What an amazing change in just a few days.  It seems that adapting to the wild swings in winter temperatures is the new norm.  Time to fight global warming that is causing extremes in weather. 
     I had a conversation about what the future might look like with my friend Andy this morning as we rode the lift.  We were speculating on what the slopes will look like at the turn of this century.  That is the time my youngest grandson would be the same age as I am now.  I am dreaming that he will be enjoying the slopes then just as I am now.