838 is slowly coming together. my days are still slow and unproductive. most of the time i sit and stare out the window.
it rained all week last week. it pounded night and day. i rather enjoyed listening to it pour. i took these on friday:
autumn rain
looking south from bedroom window
not much of a sunset
it couldn't look any better saturday morning.
extreme zooming in on the bit of the pacific
taken shortly after sunrise
north east view over roof tops
sunday we went snowboarding again. just me, jg, and beeze this time. we left for kirkwood at 5.
jg eating breakfast at the wheel
morning in the valley
beeze loving the sunrise
goofing around with mirrors
approaching kirkwood
we arrived at the massive resort at around 9. there were so many cars and buildings that i couldn't see the mountain. if it wasn't for all the skiers milling around, i wouldn't have guessed there's snow near by.
i got dressed on my own this time. beeze brought me larger pants so i could zip them over the infamous butt pads impact shorts. also, at my request, beeze brought me a shorter board. all said and done, i still felt every bit awkward as i did the first time.
i spent the morning hiking up the hill and rehashing what i learned two weeks ago. ah, the joy of falling down. after a couple of supervised runs jg and beeze left me to my own devices. i was more than confident to fall down on my own.
playing dead, taken by jg while riding the wall lift
i did short runs right under the lift lines. each time i sat down to recuperate, i got hassled by the lift riders. some excerpts:
woman: "are you all right?"
thuy: "yes, i'm taking a break."
man: "that's no way to snowboard!"
thuy: "oh?"
man: "can you spare a cigarette."
thuy: "sure!"
kid: "do you need help? if you need help, just yell help! that's all you gotta do!"
thuy: "ok. thanks!"
same kid: "how come you're just sitting there? you should get on a lift!"
same kid again: "you're still there! what are you doing?"
i didn't bother answering the little punk after the first time. other than having a regular conversation with strangers reeling by, i also eavesdropped. nothing notable except one guy asking another for his peace pipe.
back to the parking lot for lunch.
jg eating+drinking alternately
making love to the bottle
in between swigs they talked me into getting a lift ticket. i should have known better.
putting on a brave face for the very first lift experience snowkirk the kiddie run
looking up
looking down, note romantic snowboards touching
my lift mate, filled with dread
jg gave me prep talks through out the entire aerial ride about how to get off the lift. despite all his careful instructions, i fell down as soon as i slid off the chair. it was the first time i felt embarrassed. probably because there were a bunch of rookies watching me. what's worse? i took the lift again and fell even harder the second time!
jg took these while i tried to get down the hill.
yay for butt uh impact shorts!
look everyone, i'm not falling!
i tend to look scared for my life when i'm having fun
try as i might, i had no control of my board. i often ended up heading exactly where i didn't want to go, such as tree stumps and lift support poles. other times i ended up way off the path. beeze and jg took turns towing me out of ravines. yes, a lot of fun.
the sun went down over the mountain around 4:30. it got real cold so we called it a day. my tail bone felt real sore so i kept my impact shorts on for the ride home.
sunset seen at 8,000 feet elevation
going home
our next snow adventure won't be until after thanksgiving. if you'll be on the slopes then, remember to watch out for the goofy foot girl in the orange jacket!
You're so brave!!! I'm just not one for jumping onto equipment I can't control. I hope you're doing well!
» from elizabeth
11.18.2004
Reading your post I was thinking, hey that looks familiar and then I read your other post with your address and said I know where that is! I'm on O'Farrell on the other side of Masonic in Anza Vista aka the western Western Addition. Welcome to the neighborhood!
BTW - you look great on a snowboard, I'm way scared of trying it.
