A justified affliction

Ah Christmas Day!! I remember it clearly; the giddiness and joy of Hannah opening up her presents, the air of familial love and congenial bonds wafting through the house. Walking up and not having a fever, a cough, aches and pains, blowing my nose or nausea.

Just when I think I turn a corner, I run into a new malady - or simply the same sickness disguised impeccably with a fancy false mustache. I went from having a cold the day after Christmas to having it just about kicked... and then the flu to having that dispensed with and my energy almost back at full reserve.... to having the flu again and, the best way to describe it, several pieces of chalk stuck at the Y junction from my esophagus to my lungs.

I know the catalyst to this latest setback. Though somebody with a medical background might expound I never truly got healthy - breaking a fever every single night for a week and a half; it does get tiresome washing one's sheets so frequently.

Sunday was a nice cold day of skiing at Breckenridge. Awaking after three hours of sleep, I somehow navigated to Steve's place without fulling being conscious. Soon we were parking in VIP parking and I was searching for my contact to interview.

While the lack of sleep and not feeling myself yet, I offered the caveat to Steve I was probably not going to get on any Blacks today. That was short lived. After a couple Blues to warm up the majority of the day was spent in Black land.

Skiers coming down the Imperial Bowl


Around midday we met up with Chad, Jen, Shawn and a couple of his friends. It was a great time to be skiing with friends. An opportunity like this doesn't present itself frequently. We aren't just talking about the conflicting schedules of adults. Throw in three kids, two mortgages and a big engineering exam looming on the horizon and a group outing like this most likely won't happen again this season.

Jen & Chad ski down a black mogul run

Keep that right shoulder forward Jen

Yesterday I headed up to Arapahoe Basin for more interviews, some photos and to get some video for the 9 pm newscast. It was cold.... very cold... so cold the camera mini DV camera wouldn't work. It would film for a few seconds and then shut off. I found out it was about -15 degrees when I was there.

Riding the lifts was painful and worst still, condensation formed on the inside of my goggles because of the warm air I was exhaling and how cold it was outside. That froze making my goggles useless and meant I skied down the Montezuma Bowl twice and back to the base of the mountain without goggles in -15 degrees.

Snowboarder making his way down the Zuma bowl

I really wouldn't call what I did skiing, with a video camera on my back and a still camera in my chest pocket, there was some snowplowing involved. And much stopping so I could try to discern the terrain through frozen, squinted eyes in very flat light. In short, when I reached the base of the ski area, I was miserable. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I'll have to come back without the hardware. This looked fun.


No artist of the post, I prefer the oral accompaniment of my groaning for the time being.