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Hmm..what should I write! Well…good and bad, I guess! Good news first! The mountains and the snow were beautiful, the resort was just like Switzerland, I had fun with the Klaus family, and......I got a lot done while I sat and looked out the window! “Hmmm” you are probably thinking, “What is she doing looking out the window!?” Well, I started off the same way I had the last time I went skiing—over 10 years ago—clunking my head and back good getting off the ski lift! I’m ashamed to say that I lost my temper at my dear hubby—you know it always is easier to blame your own faults on someone else! What was he thinking taking me on the lift without giving me some chance to try out my skis! Doesn’t he know by now that I’m not very coordinated?! Yes, he’s been skiing since he was 3, but not me! This is crazy--I can't do this--etc!!! Anyway, he and the lift guy coaxed me out of the way of the other skilled skiers and guided me to the top of the slope—yikes! It took quite a bit of talking to get me to move! I inched to the other side and then..hmmm..I’ve got to turn around somehow. He wants me to make a curve—oh great! I stubbornly refuse! “Well, I guess you can lay down on your back and swing your legs around,” he says. I’m sure I was a very graceful site with those long skis turning through the air and then making several clumsy attempts to stand up! After a few falls and much encouragement by my patient hubby, I managed to get down the slope. I had gained confidence in my reckless approach to this activity! I was bound and determined to get off the lift smoothly this time! Well, I got off and managed to stay on my feet, but it was anything but smooth! I did two more trecks down and on the last time I had a grand fall—clunked my head and back good enough to see stars! Akihiro, racing to my rescue sprayed me with snow and fell down in front of me, my flown-away hat, and my snapped-off ski! These short Japanese people don't have so far to the ground! Akihiro said he needed to teach me how to fall! How to fall?!! Oh dear! I think that fall did me in for the morning. I went to take a rest, not realizing that I had sat on a snowball—uggh, wet pants! After a good lunch, I thought I was brave enough and my headache, neck ache, and back ache weren’t too bad, so I had better try it again. DUH! I started to get scared on the lift ride up and then clunked my head again getting off the lift—that pretty much topped it off! I was scared! I tried to go, but just couldn’t make myself! That slope looked like it went straight down! Akihiro tried to teach me how to go down sideways, but that was taking forever and my phobia was growing! Just as I had said many years ago when a canoe tipped over on me, again my words were, “I want to walk!” So, off went the skis and I walked down the side of the mountain, trying not to draw too much attention to myself! Maybe they think my skis snapped off and went down the mountain on their own..hmm..probably not. Oh well, dad always says, “life is a humbling school!” Anyway, the onsen felt great that night on my aching muscles. Despite the encouragement of my fellow skiers, I spent the next day inside the hotel in an easy chair watching the other graceful skiers gliding by my window and typing the next chapter of our book. Akihiro would really like me to try again sometime, but I know he is underestimating my klutziness! I told him he might have a better chance of convincing me when my neck and back have regained their flexibility! We'll see! Anyway, sorry to bore you with my self-deprecating story! Also, here's a picture of my cheapskate hubby in his flashy ski wear that he got in high school! He was the brightest guy on the slopes and I could easily spot him!