Weekend Alert: Everyone's Chance to Jump on Some Challenges

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.
-- Napoleon Hill

Last weekend, my friend Lisa, who I met in October when she came to Saint Michael's College to speak after we viewed her film The Greatest Silence, was in town.  The weekend turned out to be a bit snafu-ridden, between delayed flights and car problems on the way to Bolton Valley, but was still a great opportunity to catch up with a friend and also see the "sneak premiere" of her new film, Sex Crimes Unit.  Her visit also reminded me of a truism that I sometimes forget in the dead of winter here, namely, that Vermont is a fabulous place that lots of people deliberately spend a lot of time and effort to visit even (especially) in the dead of winter.

So, I'm grateful to Lisa for her visit and this timely reminder because I'm facing a four-day weekend, which I've suddenly realized is a great opportunity to act like a tourist might -- hitting the ski slopes, having an apres-ski cooking experiment with students and generally enjoying some of the great things that Vermont has to offer. So, friends and students who are sticking around for the weekend as well, this is your official notice.  Here's my plan for the long weekend, and everyone is welcome to join in to whatever fits.

Friday: Go skiing at Smugg's with Alexsis and to the Flynn Space that night with my friend and colleague Paul.  Alexsis and I  went skiing last Friday and it was fabulous.  Although she's obviously a way better skier than me, Alexsis is also very laid-back and we had a great time.


Last Friday Alexsis and I were talking about how the snow-covered trees made us feel like we were in Narnia.



It was a pretty perfect ski day -- clear, not too cold and no wind. Here's Alexsis obviously enjoying being on the mountain.

Saturday: Depends on who is up for it, but after a horrendous 13 mile training session (completed at glacial pace on cold and icy sidewalks) for my marathon prep last Saturday, this weekend I get to take it easy with a five mile run. This opens up all kinds of possibilities.  The two most likely are doing a new thing by going to the Snowflake Bentley Museum, or doing some outdoor ice skating (never done that here in Vermont).

Sunday: Rock climbing with some of the great student-activists at SMC on Sunday afternoon at Petra climbing gym.  Kate, Samantha and Connor have all said they may be in -- if you've never been, but wanted to try it, here's a fun chance!

It's been a while since the last SMC group student rock climbing expedition to Petra cliffs.  Josh, Ben and Sarah are all still around and hopefully will be joined by some others who couldn't make it last year.

Tuesday: Another ski day at Smuggs with Alexsis and possibly Kate and anyone else who's up for it, followed by the next installment of cooking new things at my place.  And after some thought and great suggestions, I've decided what it will be: crepes!  Sweet and savory.  What a fun thing to learn to make, and of course, eat. A whole bunch of people, some veterans of other cooking adventures, like Josh and Kate, some new-bees like Alyssa and Alexsis, have already signed on, but the more the merrier.

I'll definitely post a report after the long weekend is over, but this is more of a heads-up that it's on the way.  Anyone who want to be part of skiing/ice skating/rock climbing/cooking challenges or a weekend new thing, this is your chance.  Just drop me a note and pencil it in to your weekend plans.

The Next Big Thing..

The last weekend of February is actually an anniversary of sorts for this blog and the project it's been tracking.  It was the last weekend of February, 2010 when Siham, Leah and I headed up to Bar Harbor, Maine to hike up Cadillac Mountain and witness the earliest sun rise on the East Coast.  While we were there, we wrote down all the things that had made 2009 a terrible year and burned the lists, and then started a tradition we've been following ever since, of working on our lists of New Things and now, Challenges, and then figuring out which ones we want to take on together. 

Here I was taking a little moment to enjoy the view on the way up the mountain

Obviously, we need to celebrate such an auspicious anniversary, and so we'll be celebrating with a weekend featuring yet another New Thing -- dog sledding.  Should be loads of fun, and we'll definitely have a report.

Here's Leah and Siham on Cadillac Mountain starting what was to become a frequent tradition for the three of us-- list making, occasionally as in this case, the bad, and more often the new and the challenging.