Making Time for Mom

Wrapping. Cooking, Baking, Shopping. Decorating. Cleaning. There’s a long list of things to accomplish this time of year. On Sunday as I was making lists and checking them twice, my husband, Matt said, “Go get your cross country gear out and get dressed. You need to get outside and get some exercise. All this other stuff can wait.”

I thought for a moment that I would tell him I had too much to do, but I knew he was right. I knew that this was my chance for some time by myself. I knew that getting some fresh air and exercise would make me feel good and sleep better. I had been excited to get out on the trails at the recently opened Bretton Woods Nordic Center, and now was the time to go.

Once out there, I was so glad I went. The sun was shining, the snow was glistening, and with no wind, the temperature was comfortable. Bretton Woods is the place to find snow right now with 30 kilometers open and groomed. I clicked into my skate skis and was off. Knowing that I was out of cross-country skiing shape, I decided to stick mostly to the flatter trails, and did loops on Perimeter, Links, Rye Field and Esker.

The base on the trails is still a bit variable, but they’ve done a great job grooming what Mother Nature has given us so far. As Peter Smith, Nordic Center Director, told me, “it’s great balance and agility practice.” He also reminded me how lucky we are to have such a great grooming crew out there when there isn’t any snow – in the summer, they are out there with chainsaws and axes doing the hard work of clearing the trails of stumps, blown-down trees, and overgrowth so that when the snow does fall, we’ve got smooth trails that only take a little snow to cover.

I got a good hour of skiing in when I got a phone call from Matt. Bridget wanted to go cross-country skiing and they were on their way. I couldn’t think of any better way to spend an afternoon.