Up North Week One

      The primary reason from my trip north was to do some skiing.  As indicated in my previous blog entry, there was plenty of snow.  There was also plenty of cold.  As a result, I didn't hit the slopes until Wednesday morning.  Went to Jiminy Peak over in Hancock, Mass. and skied for 4 hours in marvelous conditions.

Jiminy Peak offers a variety of trails and is always well-groomed.  It wasn't too crowded in the morning and around lunch the slopes were clear.  I think I got in about 14 runs.  Some of my favorite runs take a little poling to get to, but offer great views of Mount Greylock, where my little girl is getting married in just 7 short months.

       Four hours was just about right, as my legs just started to feel it.  Also my finger tips were getting a little numb.  In spite of the brilliant sunshine, it was cold.  One of the interesting aspects of the day, was the lack of conversation between my co-lift riders.  It wasn't until almost my last run that some actually spoke.  He said, "Has everybody take an oath of silence on this lift today?"  I laughed and chatted him the rest of the way up.  No one else joined in.  Maybe they did take an oath.
      On Friday I went to dinner with Sue, George, and Jim Miller.  We went to The Redfront in Troy and then on to the RPI hockey game against Colgate.  RPI has been playing well this year and has been ranked nationally.  We joked at dinner that as Colgate was the last place team in the league,  RPI would probably play down to the level of the competition (which is their history from our perspective).  They did, losing 2 - 1 in overtime.
     Saturday I went over to Steamer Ten as Theatre Voices was doing a staged reading of The Rainmaker. Some of my friends from Facebook were in it and several people(Yvonne and Chris Foster) were in attendance.  Eileen Schuyler directed and it was well done, particularly the first act which was crisp and well-acted.
     Sunday I sang with the choir at the Church of the Covenant. We did an arrangement of The Prayer of St. Francis with Gail Welkey having a solo.  It sounded good.  The message was on point for me, about letting go of the feelings that make you want to control everything around you. Just let go and give it to God.  Much needed pep talk as so much of what I do is fear based.  As Monday's calendar featured an audition for Barrington Stage and fear was taking over, the message was well-timed.