Tundra Sports

I spent the weekend in Bend, a pleasant little mountain hamlet in the middle of Oregon. I know I said I'd be strapping some strategically designed tennis rackets to my feet and traipsing through the Cascade range, but since there wasn't much new snow on the ground it made more sense to rent some cross country skis and explore the area around Mt. Bachelor instead.

I've always had a hard time with skiing. I tried downhill once, at Coffee Mill Ski Area in Wabasha, MN. Which you might not recognize as an alpine region, because it's a river bluff along the Mississippi. Nonetheless, it was formidable enough to scare me away from the slopes for 15 years. Then I moved to Oregon, a mere 50 miles from Mt. Hood, and decided that I should give winter sports another shot. So I strapped my legs to a snowboard this time and threw myself down a bigger hill. Results were not optimal.

This weekend I revisited skiing of the Nordic variety. About 5 years ago I was convinced to do a 10k ski race across a section of Lake Superior, although I had no previous experience. Guess how that turned out.

But this time I went back for a round two, and you know what -- this broad's not half bad on a couple of planks. And boy do I feel like an athlete. And by that I mean I can barely walk and until yesterday I had forgotten I had triceps.

What a lovely way to witness winter.