Vail

4:30 AM: Was I sleeping? Had I slept? My groggy body fumbled around for a light and for layers of clothing to warm the cold morning. It seemed minutes since I had closed my eyes the night before, and yet here was morning (almost), the day of the Anticipated Ski Trip. The house was eerily calm as all my housemates fluttered along in eye-blinking sleep while I double-checked my supply of extra hats, my two marmalade, honey, and craisin sandwiches (who knew peanut butter vanishes so quickly?) and most importantly, my long underwear on top and bottom.

6:30 AM: On the road in two large white vans, packed with 24 sleepy children. We climbed west out of Denver to the ski mecca of Vail. Before leaving, we made sure coats were unzipped and hats removed, not wanting to repeat the episode of half a dozen overheated children last ski trip. As prompted by the Vail program who organized the trip, we asked the children what courage meant. "Courage is when I went to middle school," one said. "And it's doing something even though it's scary," adds another.

8:20 AM: Vail is packed with pleasure seekers enjoying the first flush of a long weekend. The kids practically vibrate with excitement, straining their eyes to see where the gondola was about to take them. Maternally, I circulate zipping jackets and tucking in gloves. With so many buttons to snap and cords to tie, how did I spend so many hours in the snow as a child? "I can't wait until we start skating," proclaims Ilse. "Skiing! We're skiing!" I correct her. "Skiing!" she shouts, unperturbed.

We pile eight into the gondola and are whisked up, up, up into the clouds. Seven little faces and one big one press against the window, and there is a collective 'oooooh' each time the cable bumps us over another huge gear. By the time we reach the top, the city of Vail below is nowhere in sight.

9:15 AM: Finally, ready for the hill! Second grader Giovanny pulls me aside near the door. "This day," he says solemnly, "will be a day I remember for the rest of my life."

10:30 AM: Downward ho! The kids have learned how to put on their skies, how to take them off, how to move forward, and are still mastering the art of stop. Naiya, a second-grader with floppy bangs and a cheeky grin, has spent more time flat on the mountain than upright, and her legs buckle under her in impossible ways. But her grin stays cheeky as she climbs up the leg of our instructor, Mark, for the umpteenth time. How guileless she is, and how unswayed by her repeated wipe-outs.

12:15 PM: Lunchtime, inside the lodge. Unzip, unsnap, unbuckle. The kids sound like an army of miniture Huns in their ski boots, tromp tromp tromping up and down the staircase. They walk bow-legged, like little snow cowboys. Our table opts for cheeseburgers and fries, a happy indulgement for me, justified by the energy spent that morning! We talk about bones we've broken before, and times we've gotten stitches - a topic just dangerous enough, considering our afternoon still left on the slope, to be thrilling.

1:00 PM: Back on the slopes! The kids have mastered the top, gentle half of the bunny hill, which deposited them at the base of the 'magic carpet,' a moving sidewalk you stand on to get back up the hill. It's time for the 'Thundercat Cave'! We enter one by one into a large fiberglass tunnel. Inside it's a bit darker. Three ski strokes, and on the left is a glass case with a mountain lion poised to pounce. Three more strokes, and we're out into the sunshine! Now across the hill one by one, most falling at the end in anticipation of having to wait for everyone else.

We make it down the hill to the ski lift. Oh day of unending thrills! I ride up between Giovanny and third-grader Eddie. Giovanny gets a bit overeager, perhaps because of nerves, and flops over when it's our turn for the lift. No harm done - the lift slows and we're scooped up. How I want to bottle the joy of children at all things new and good! The boys' faces glowed all the way up the hill, and this time they watched the skiiers with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that they too, navigated their way to the bottom. Side by side with the fresh faces of these youth, everything was exciting, a chance for bravery or disaster. Tips up! We're off the lift, Giovanny falls again, and we're back on top.

2:30 PM: Time to head inside, unzip unbutton unsnap all over again. The kids are windburned and sore, but elated. "I love this!" squeals Naiya. "Did you see me make it down the hill?" Of course I did. Naiya earned our instructor's Most Improved Skiier accolade. I indulge one solo run down the bunny slope while the kids trudge up to the lodge. I had forgotten how fun skiing is! The view was breath-taking, ridge upon snowy ridge stretching far into the distance. And funny thing, when I'm gliding down the hill, I forget all about the ache in my shins, probably rubbed raw by this point.

3:30 PM: In the vans, on the road. The kids are still bursting with adrenaline, recounting every run, bump, and spill that day. We play 'Twenty Questions' for most of the ride home. Little Carolina doesn't quite grasp the concept. She asks all in a rush, "Whatcolorisit??" No, Carolina, a yes or no question! She thinks for a bit. "Howbigisit??" Thinks again. "Isitalion??" Games certainly take a twist with five year olds!

5:42 PM: Again in the parking lot at work, again dark. All the kids are dropped off, by now sleepy from their day of sun and snow. I am filled with gratitude at God's creation, both the mountains and the people who swarmed all over them. I have not yet got my fill of children!! How good it was to see these kids in an out-of-school setting, where math drills have no place unless it helps us count the seconds we stay aloft on our skies! And how wonderful the kids were - they were not bitter that this was their first time skiing, and potentially their last. Past and future have no foothold when the present is so lovely!

Good day, good people, good God how beautiful life can be!

mid-January

Happy Feast of the Baptism of our Lord!

What life has been filled with lately:

- The knitting club is set to start this week!! I am filled with gratitude for the generous souls who have contributed to its beginning: thanks to Aunt Kay, Grandma, Mom, and my co-worker Harriet for their donations of yarn and needles. Also thanks to Sherrie Lubowitz, owner of the Shivering Sheep, a yarn shop in Denver that hosts knitting clubs to make hats for the homeless. I met with her on Friday and she gave me a dozen pairs of gently-used needles, along with two bags of hats and an offer of technical assistance when needed. I will post some photos of the kids knitting as soon as they learn how, and of course will send along photos of the semi-finished and finished products!

- On Saturday, I attended a conference at Regis University sponsored by the Denver Archdiocese and entitled "Life-Giving Freedom: A Holistic Approach to Reproductive Health." There were talks on Natural Family Planning, infertility, the symbolism inherent in male-female reproductive systems, and cultural consequences of a contraceptive mentality, among others. My brain felt quite stimulated! One thing I found particularly thought-provoking was the proposal that God, as creator, speaks truth through his creation. We, as persons created by God, have divine truth written into our very bodies - not just our minds, but our bodies and their functioning. In other words, how are bodies work and what they need tells us a lot about who we are as humans and who our Creator is.

Sorry this update is so short!!! Life is packed, in a good and wholesome way.
Peace to you all.