The weekend of Feb. 3-5 we joined our friends Mark and Janet and their extended family of children and grandchildren at Mt. Snow, VT. Ashley, Jason and Claire came up with us, and we had a fun weekend despite the less than ideal conditions. Earlier that week the temperatures had warmed into the 50's only to plunge into the upper 20's with some snow the night we arrived. As a result, the slopes had a covering of new groomed snow over a base of solid glare ice. Mt. Snow can be so nice when the conditions are good so it was a shame that the weather did not fully cooperate. Regardless, a very good time was had by all. Ashley, Jason and Dale skied all day on Saturday, and we had an excellent time hanging out with our friends. I opted out of skiing (after all I had so many more ski days ahead of me, or so I thought then) in order to babysit for Claire on Saturday and give A and J time to themselves, and we had so much fun! She enjoyed her buddy 17 month old Cain and his 6 year old brother Carter, and she always loves laughing and playing with her BiBi! The weekend ended with Super Bowl watching in Montclair with Ashley and Jason before we headed home after the half time show. Listening to the game on the radio kept us company all the way home.
Claire spent lots of her time "reading" to me from her new book featuring paintings byVan Gogh.
After a short week at home and working with my little cuties at Bache-Martin School, I flew out to Colorado on Feb. 10 to join South Jersey Ski Club friends, Kathy D., Geoff S., Terry and Lynn H. and Don P., Marie O., Pam A. and Bruce C. at their retirement rental in Vail. Pam, one of my favorite ski buddies, had offered me a week sharing her room, and I could not pass up that offer. All I had to do was pay for my plane and lift tickets. It started to snow the evening I arrived, and it continued to snow off and on the rest of the week. The conditions that had only been marginal throughout the month of January continued to improve all week long. Everything was open, and Pam and I had so much fun skiing together and exploring the slopes of Vail that I had missed on the two days I spent there in 2011.
However, all of that fun came to a crashing halt at 10:45 AM on February 14, my 4th day on the slopes of Vail, when a young woman skied in from the left onto the trail where I was enjoying a beautiful run down the fall line and slammed into my left forearm as I was making a right turn. Her head hit my arm so hard that her helmet flew off! I was left sitting on the snow wondering what had just happened and with an arm that I could tell immediately was badly injured. After my trip off the mountain on a Ski Patrol sled and a sojourn in the Vail Valley Medical Center ER, x-rays revealed that my ulna was broken right in the middle of the bone. It was splinted and wrapped, and I was instructed to see an Orthopedist as soon as possible after my return to Philadelphia. What a huge bummer!! Needless to say, that ended my skiing that week. Pam and I spent the rest of my visit touring the Colorado Ski Museum, taking the weekly Vail Art Walk, where we were fortunate enough to attend a reception for Pennsylvania based sculptor Steve Tobin, and enjoying a beautiful day in Breckenridge, CO.
Here I am on February 14 just before heading over to take our run down empty Born Free trail.
And here I am After the Crash and the Break while enjoying a favorite pain killer by a warming fire.
These Happy Valentine's Day flowers from Dale, Enzo and Nerina definitely helped lift my spirits!
I returned to Philadelphia on Feb. 17, and on Monday, Feb. 20, I was seen at Rothman Orthopedics by Dr. Barbara F. After reviewing my x-rays, she told me that for maximum healing and use of my arm in the future, it was in my best interest to come in the next day for surgery to insert a stabilizing plate on my ulna bone. I was taken aback initially, but after asking her many questions and doing research on my own, I realized that surgery would be best. After all, Dale and I were set to lead a ski club trip to Bad Hofgastein, Austria and Amsterdam in 11 days, and Dr. F. told me that the surgery would leave me able to lead and even ski on that trip! I had my outpatient surgery on Feb. 21, rested at home on Feb. 22, went to Richmond on Feb. 23 for a couple of days so that I could accompany my mother to some long scheduled medical appointments, had my surgical dressings removed on Feb. 27, and headed off to Austria on March 2 as scheduled. Dr. F. was right!
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