First, I have to acknowledge the amount of privilege that goes with tonight’s post:

• The privilege of living where I live
• The privilege of having an income that affords me  the opportunity for recreation
• The privilege of having a wife and family supportive of me taking time for myself

As I mentioned in passing, this past Sunday I took the kids skiing for their first time–and for my first time in a couple of decades. Everyone really enjoyed the experience, and with a ski slope less than a fifteen minute drive from our house, I suspect that we will be making a number of return trips.

And today was my first.

I stopped by a local used gear shop yesterday and found a pair of skis older than two of my three children–but my size, and in good shape. And as luck would have it, the shop also had a pair of boots in my size. All in all, I outfitted for the price of a new pair of climbing shoes.

Tuesday night, all three kids have been going to a local gymnastics gym. Usually, I would stay home and cook dinner, and my wife would do the shuttling back and forth. Today, though–with some snow flakes flying in the air–I suggested that I might want to leave the kids and dinner to her, and spend an evening on my own, on the slopes.

Which is what I did.

And it really felt good. It’s not as though I never take “me time,” but for whatever reason, today I felt the desire to spend the evening on my own, doing something challenging, but fun. And I absolutely appreciated the triple-privilege of what I was doing tonight.

But I also appreciated the cold, the relative solitude of a near empty slope at night, and the rush of wind.

Simple living? I’m not sure, given the cost and the infrastructure that goes into maintaining a ski resort. But one thing is for sure: like climbing, the act of skiing forces my attention into the now.

So maybe that’s what I was really looking for tonight….