Musing #1 - Real Men
There were, at least, 6 of us crammed inside a cart on the Steamboat Gondola. It was a cold morning and my friends Mona, Steve, and I were headed up the mountain for our first ski run of the day. We had opted for the singles line to avoid the long, winding crowd in the group line, which meant we’d likely get separated. Mona ended up in one cart, while Steve and I followed close behind in another.
A gondola ride with strangers often includes an awkward silence. Sometimes it lasts for a few moments, other times it lasts for the 9-10 minute ride. Either way, being in close quarters, you spend too long hoping you don’t catch whatever virus someone else might be carrying. At least, I do.
Conversation began between two men sitting across from each other, to my right. I was grateful for the broken silence, as I marveled at the snow, trees, and houses below. Then, there was a lull in their conversation.
A guy sitting to my left said, “Dude, can I take a picture of your shirt?”
“Oh, sure,” said one of the men who had been previously talking.
The one guy held up his cell phone. And that’s when I noticed the other guy’s shirt for the first time.
Over his ski coat, he was wearing a light pink, short-sleeve t-shirt with blue/purple block letters that said, “REAL MEN LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT”.
The cart erupted in laughter. I glanced over to Steve, whose balaclava covered most of his face but his squinting eyes gave away his reaction.
“I had this shirt made for my daughter’s birthday party,” the guy said. “I thought it was a good day to wear it, since the (Kansas City) Chiefs are playing today.”
Musing #2 - The Moguls
I was riding on a chair lift with 2 other women who were strangers to me, but friends to each other. They were discussing the runs they had skied that morning. We each observed the people skiing and snowboarding on the trail below our chair.
As we approached the mid-point of a mogul run, there was a woman who had fallen on her skis. She tried to push herself up by shifting her weight on to her ski poles and using them for leverage. She slowly started to rise up, only to fall back down on the packed powder.
“I’m soooo tired,” she called back to another skier, who was making her way down the moguls and stopped about 15 feet above the fallen woman on the slope.
“I’m sorry!” the one above called back. “I didn’t realize it was so mogul-y!”
“Oh, no”, I said quietly, almost feeling her pain and wondering if my words traveled down to them.
One of the other women in my chair said, “Should we tell her she has a long way to go?”
Musing #3 - Pardon Me
Mona, Steve, and I were riding the Thunderhead Express chair lift. Unexpectedly, it stopped mid-ride, which typically meant someone needed assistance getting on or off the lift.
Though you never wish for a lift to stop while you’re on it, when it happens, it affords a serene moment in nature. You can’t help but take in the mountain views. It’s also often quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
When our chair stopped, it was aligned with an empty chair to the left, coming back down the mountain.
A voice pierced the air.
It was Steve.
“Pardon me. Do you have any Grey Poupon?” he said, directing his attention toward the empty chair.
Mona and I had a hearty laugh, as the 3 of us sat suspended from a cable.
