Caleb and Jono's excellent snowy adventure

Yesterday, my friend Jono and I went to the nearest ski-resort to carve up the mountainside. He's an avid skier and I'm a rookie snowboarder so one might think only the fiercest of rivalries would exist between us. On the contrary, Jono's a true bro, and our chumminess only grows as we enjoy creation by rushing down the sides of mountains in powdery fluffiness. We're snow buddies for life.

 

I live just under an hour away from prime ski terrain, so Jono spent the night at our place, and then we left early Saturday morning to reach the slopes when they opened. We could not have chosen a better day to spend on the mountain. Once the sun had climbed high enough in the sky to peer over the mountains, its luminous immensity shone across the snow, sparkling and reflecting from the expanses of sheer white powder. It had only recently snowed, so everything was capped with a new coat of dry, powdery snow. Conditions could not possibly be more perfect. It was, in a word, fantastic.

 

Jono forgot his snow-pants though... luckily for him some mutual friends were also going boarding that day, so he borrowed a pair from them.

 

Hour after hour passed, but we barely noticed. All we drank in were the spectacular views and the fantastic rushes we received from our rides down the mountain. It was a breathtaking afternoon.

 

View from the car. The sun's rays were just hitting the mountain...

 

Different angle, different view, same breathtaking beauty...

Jono, excited about the hand-warmers he's holding...

Horsing around before the snow-pants arrived...

Snow buddies.

More gorgeous landscape.

The powder was so luscious...

A lift drop-off. It was really hard to get off of... for me...

Taking in the beauty of creation before hitting the slopes.

The snowboard-bum life suites me.

Yes, I wear gloves under my mittens. It gets cold!

Before strapping on my bindings and dropping in...

 

Unfortunately the day ended rather harshly. The drive started well, it was relaxing and we listened to the Killers, which was splendid. But then traffic was a monster and we were both thoroughly exhausted when we got back. Nonetheless, it was an enormously fun day.

Goodbye 2013! Welcome 2014!

Well, it’s a brand new year. Shiny, hot off the grill. Just out of the wrapping. I spent the last hours of last year and the first hours of this new one with some of my best chums. We listened to music, ate snacks, played mindless video games; named off tons of literary, artistic, and political figures in a guessing game of our own invention, and laughed ridiculously at one another and with one another. We greeted the New Year with fireworks, sparkling cider, and immense glee.

Every January 1, I always reminisce on past years. I think about the good times I’ve had and all the great people I’ve met. And I look forward to the next twelve months, swallowed by my intrigue as to what splendor those months will contain. It feels good to start the new year writing. I find myself not more and more comfortable when writing, but less and less comfortable when not writing. And I only feel that’s a good thing.

I certainly have goals for this next year. Things I truly hope (Or tentatively plan) to complete or begin. I don’t really find myself all that impressed by the whole tacky ‘resolutions’ bit, so I won’t be pathetically attempting to keep to some strict or rigid list of alterations in my daily habit. I do think it’s a noble thing to be constantly striving to better one’s self though, so I’ll be doing my best to grow in my strengths and conquer my weaknesses.

I look forward to the new year and am excited to see what it brings.