Did I mention that it is snowing again?
It snowed non-stop for four days straight.
How much did we get?
Take a look at the photo on the left and see for yourself.
I haven't driven my van since last Thursday, so you can see how much piled up since that time. A lot.
Certainly enough for every ski ground both near to the city and far away, to get a long awaited blessing and open up full time.
Ikuko and I finally finished printing and writing messages on about 300 New Year Cards 年賀状 that we send out every year, so tomorrow I am ready to go snowboarding for the first time this season.
I will be going to Santa Present Park for the night session starting at 16:00, most likely Charlie and his oldest son will be there too.
Charlie sent me an email telling about his big adventure at Kamui Ski Links yesterday.
He came to the conclusion that he needed some more practice time at a smaller mountain before he was fully ready to get back up on the big slopes again.
I know exactly what he means.
About 16 years ago when I tried snowboarding for the first time in my life, I was having a really hard time with it.
Even though I was born and raised in Snow Country in Spokane Washington, I was never allowed to go skiing by my parents.
So before I came to Asahikawa in 1990, I had never even been on a chair lift before.
In fact, the first time I tried to get onto a chair lift with my new snowboard attached to my left foot, I fell off right at the beginning.
How embarrassing is that!?!
On my second try, I was able to ride the lift up to the top and then promptly fell down again as I was trying to get off of the chair lift, and slide down to the staging area below.
After I had attached my right foot to the snowboard binding and tried to stand up, I fell down again, and so on and so forth.
The first 3 or 4 times I went to a ski ground, I did a whole lot more falling down than I did of any meaningful riding.
Finally on the 4th or 5th trip to the ski ground, I found my balance and was off down the slopes in a free riding style that I still use to this day.
In a word, learning how to ride a snowboard is very much like learning how to ride a bicycle.
Once you find your balance, you will remember it for the rest of your life.
Even if you haven't ridden a bicycle for many years, you can still get on a bicycle and ride it again immediately.
The only question is HOW LONG can you ride it before you get really tired. Snowboarding is the same basic principle.
I didn't go snowboarding at all last season, and only one or two times during the season before that.
Tomorrow I will try it again for the first time in almost two years.
I know I will be exhausted after about 60 to 90 minutes, but I need more exercise in my life because I spend most of my time sitting in a chair, either talking to people or making stuff on a PC.
It's time to spread my wings again.
