Sometimes my crazy things are just reminders that it’s important to be young and remember the joy that can be found in doing things that children do – swinging on swings, hopscotch… the list is endless. If we only did adult things then we get stuck in an adult world and that can be boring, limiting, and it likely means closing the door on joy.
Early in the ski season I saw a snow angel on the side of a ski trail. Just out in the middle of nowhere particularly special. It made me smile, and I tried to remember when the last time I made one was. I couldn’t remember actually ever making one. I must have made them when I was a kid, bundled up in a snowsuit, but I had lost it. That door to childhood was closing. I knew then that a snow angel had to be a crazy thing.
Jody Lenarcic and I went for a challenging but awesome snowshoe up to the bluffs at Stake Lake on January 3rd. While were out enjoying the sunshine and sparkly white snow (my favourite days) I mentioned it. She looked at me… she has a look… it says “let’s make this happen!”… kinda scary sometimes! As we progressed up toward the bluffs the snow was deep, powdery, and bright white. It was perfect. The bluffs rose above us, basking in the sunshine. The snow was at least two feet deep and it was pristine – completely untouched. We both knew this was the spot!
Setting this up to get good pictures was actually trickier than we first thought it would be. We wanted to get video and photos. The first problem was having me pass her on snowshoes on the deep narrow trail – not a lot of room and it was almost a game of twister but we managed to survive. Next, I had to figure out how to fall backward on snowshoes. They are long in the back so it’s actually kind of difficult to fall backwards. I have no problem falling sideways – I’m a pro at that.
Basalt Bluffs
Once we got that organized I fell backward into the deep, fluffy snow and flapped my arms and legs. It’s hard to flap in deep, pristine snow, and I learned that snowshoes don’t really flap very well – this had a high degree of difficulty. Once I’d done enough flapping to make a decent angel we realized Jody would need to pull me up so we didn’t disturb the pattern. We spent a lot of time thinking about how we would manage this feat and all the while my butt, back, and legs were freezing and starting to get pretty wet – should have thought of that sooner! Where was the snowsuit of my childhood???
2016-01-03 21.50.14 from Vesta Giles on Vimeo.
When Jody finally got me vertical, and we could breathe again after laughing so hard, we looked down and saw the most perfect snow angel ever. It was awesome! The deep snow really did the trick.
We made our way back to the parking lot – it was a long snowshoe and we were pretty tired at the end of it, but I noticed I felt just a little bit lighter – not in body, but in spirit. Every once in awhile I picture that angel and I wonder how many people went by on the trail and smiled at the angel beaming up at them. It makes me smile more.
Why was this crazy?
I propped open the door to that childhood energy that dictates we do things purely because they are fun, make us laugh, and just feel good.
Would I do it again?
Any chance I get!
she runs with pens 