Julia paints her Papa's toenails

I never thought I'd see the day that I'd get my toenails painted - only 5 of them but still ..

Here's a closeup of the master, Julia, at work.

New foot - the good, the bad and the naked

Actually a new foot shell. My old foot was trashed. The knife demonstrates the depth of a rip in the heel. The pine needles show where the big toe is almost ripped off.
My naked carbon fiber / kevlar / titanium prosthesis is in the background. (As usual, click image for a better view.)

A great ski weekend (part 2) and first bump runs

Mia's been working on tele'ing the bumps lately. I haven't. Not really anyway. Bumps are tough if you're a below knee amputee skiing with free heel gear. (Some would say telemark gear instead of free heel gear but telemark is a friggin' turn not a piece of equipment. Get with the program!) Anyway I've been trying to improve my skiing - bumps were just not on the agenda. I've been watching Mia close though ... and others in the bumps - just in case ...

Well at Mary Jane on Saturday, Mia did her first expert bump run. Yeah, conditions were soft but still ... I started following her on the easier bumps and listening to her advice. (She's been reading the Paul Parker book: Free Heel Skiing, when she sits on the can.) It was frustrating but I was starting to figure out the intermediate bumps. Sometimes it's just scary because I have this big ass board strapped to my wobbly prosthetic / leg connection and I'm going way too fast. I'm worried about blowing something out, like a tendon or knee. It was also just too cold and windy to take off my leg and reset everything in case of a torquey crash.

Back to the Wallace cabin for dinner and great company. Their place looks just like you think it should at a ski area. Lot's of snow encroaching on life. (Click on picture for full effect.) Mare & Tom totally spoiled us, especially with the hot tub. Julia had a great time.

Mare volunteered to sit Julia on Sunday. We know that kid sitting = spoiling Julia rotten but it's worth it so we ski together. (Thanks Mare!)

Sunday, I really worked it with Mia and Tom. Tom showed us many good runs we didn't know about. I tried for the balance of technique, speed and control that would allow me to ski bumps without crashing. It sounds like hocus pocus but it worked, especially when I pretended I had a submachine gun strapped over my shoulder and was sneaking up on the enemy. (yeah - no kidding). I don't know where I get this stuff ..

So I did my first expert bump run, then another. Yeah, conditions were soft but it's a good start. I'm pretty pysched!! What I'm really dreaming of now - is getting up high on the ski mountaineering tours. Tom wants to come too! Did I say I'm pysched?? Now I can put one of those "No Pain, No Jane" stickers on my truck. Hopefully Tom doesn't get into the backcountry thing too much. He'll have to trade in his Acura SUV for a truck or an old Landcruiser or Jeep. You can't be a serious backcountry skier with an nice SUV ;-)

... long before my accident I used to ski bumps. Not with style though. I was just stronger than Zeus back then and could muscle it through. Now I have to ski smart and use technique. We'll see where it leads.

Something new - meditation for beginners ...

Yesterday evening, Mia & I did something different. We tried a beginner's meditation class at the Shambhala Meditation Center. Yeah, it's Buddhist but meditation isn't necessarily based on religion, I thought.

Just to be safe, I wore my most obnoxious "Unorthodox Pagan" T-shirt under a light jacket. I figured if someone tried to convert me, I'd rip off my jacket and not have to say a word. No one tried to convert us though. Actually, Helen the instructor, said that meditation isn't based on religion.

We were instructed to become comfortable on the pillows. Helen saw my leg sticking out - looking uncomfortable. She asked if I had a problem bending it. I said yes. She said that I might be able to prop it up with a pillow. As I laughed, I said that I can do better than that. I can take it off. Mia later said because I laughed, other's laughed but their faces were shocked & astonished at the circus trick I pulled. When I didn't put my leg back on, they decided the trick wasn't a trick.

The fun being done, Helen moved us along. It was a good intro to meditation. Though our backs ached afterwards, we'll do more of it - certainly!