Cross Country Skiing

Actually, the name of this blog is misleading. We didn't do much cross country skiing. We skied around our house and a bit out back and one time we took then to Winona to do some skiing. The years after we bought the skies, it stopped snowing enough in Michigan to use them. Sorry, our fault to all those who love deep snow.
It was Bruce's idea too buy the skis, but I got on board right away with the idea. I loved anything physical. It wasn't hard to learn how to use the skis, but it sure was a great work-out. You use everything on your body when you ski, except maybe your ears and you cover them anyway.
It was Bruce's thought to take our skis to Winona, MN with us. He said there were lots of open spaces where we could ski. We brought 2 of our kids with us to an ice skating rink on a lake that is actually a backwater of the Mississippi. It's damned up, so there's not a current. Bruce suggested we ski on the lake.
I am not a fan of lakes - either solid or liquid. He kept reassuring me, though, that he had grown up here and the lake was thoroughly frozen and we would not fall through. Then he showed me the tracks where someone had taken a snowplow onto the lake to clear out the spot to skate.
We got our skis on and off we went. I've got to say that I was nervous the whole time we were out, then I noticed an open spot where the lake is aerated (sp?). I told Bruce I really wanted to get off the ice. He agreed.
We headed for the solid ground that God had gathered for smart men to walk (ski) on. To get to the shore we had to cross over the path that the snowplow had cleared. The snow was piled up on each side of the path at least 2 foot higher than the ice. Bruce was skiing ahead of me. He treated the banks as if they were just a part of the solid snow. Wrong - o, Marylou! He went down like a sack of potatoes on the ice. He was laying there flat on his back with his ski's crossed. His poles were extended out from his body, still in his hands. I called out to him to see if he was all right. He answered back that he was fine, but he couldn't get up. I don't know what he thought I could do about that, especially since I could barely stay on my ski's because I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.
I had watched Bruce go over the bank and take a dive the way he skied, so I got to the edge of the bank and put my feet together, pushed off and glided down one side of the bank and up the other. It worked quite well.
I honestly do not remember how we got Bruce on his feet, but I do remember our skiing was done for the day. We gathered the kids and went back to his grandmother's house.