Writer’s block. I have read about it over the years but so far I have evaded its grip. I think I have not suffered from it because there is just so much to write about.
I have finally written my way through 87 years of an up and down life, and I have written way too many words. Now I have to go back and throw out stuff that might not be of any interest to anyone else.
I have to sort out what I have written in the bio, and over 1,000 weekly columns for your newspaper during the last many years, and make sure that this week’s story is different than last week’s.
Why not write about one of the early freestyle contests when a competitor had to do an aerial of some kind then continue down through the bumps and do some ballet maneuvers at the bottom, and do it non-stop.
What about the day that they started up the first chairlift in the world at Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1936? The PR department had invited a lot of Hollywood and New York celebrities to come and ride this new fangled gadget and enjoy Christmas in the snow. They all arrived a week before Christmas and there was not a single snowflake until the first week of February.
I wish I could write about the abundant snow in the ski resorts all over the world, but unfortunately the snow has been falling the most in places such as New York City where there are not a lot of chairlifts. I have been wondering, for many, many years, why so many people who really love to ski, still live in a big city somewhere and don’t just hang it up in the city and move to a ski resort and do the same thing they do in a city.
Almost every job that is done in a city today is also done in a ski resort. If you spend any amount of time in front of your computer at home working instead of going into the office why not do it on a table in your kitchen where you live within walking distance of a chairlift.
It probably sounds as though I am an evangelist trying to get people into the mountains instead of living the city life. Maybe I am. All I know is that I spent most of my life traveling the world with my skis and my camera and I found work wherever I went. I also found “help wanted” signs in a lot of the ski towns I visited.
The winter snow at the ski resorts will come and go in what will be the blink of an eye and how many days will you be making turns? That number is entirely up to you and how much you really want to enjoy the freedom that you get on the side of a hill. I am one of the luckiest guys in the world to have found Laurie 28 years ago and married her because she also loves to ski. Unfortunately for me, I always have to play catch up to her but she waits for me at the bottom of the lift.
We have lived at a ski resort ever since we met and shared countless runs together. Only you can evaluate how much time you can set aside to go skiing. Why not move to where it is and go to the city occasionally?
Today on our island would have been a wonderful day to play golf. The sun is out, it has not rained in two days, the election is settled and the only thing that I have any control over is what I do today and plan on doing tomorrow. Get going because you only have until next April to carve turns on your skis or snowboard.
I’m Warren Miller and I approve this message.
For more of Warren’s wanderings go to www.warrenmiller.net or visit him on his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/warrenmiller. For information on his Foundation, please visit the Warren Miller Freedom Foundation, at www.warrenmiller.org.