Last weekend I skied.
While during the weekend I did not think too much about it in the time leading up to the weekend I did. What is it?
Haiti and the disaster that unfolded there the previous Tuesday January 12, 2010.
In the past I hit this occasionally and it gets me to thinking. What am I doing skiing? I should be doing something to aid in the relief instead of engaging in trivial pursuits. However, in the end I usually continue to ski.
Similar thoughts occurred to me in March of 2003. The invasion of Iraq was still fresh in the news and our soldiers were making their first serious contacts with Iraqi resistance. I recall riding up the lifts at Indianhead wondering about what I was doing when people my age (who would be mid level officers or perhaps mid to high level NCOs) were in a gritty desert shooting at others and being shot at. I woke up on Sunday morning to hear about a battle in Najaf with some of our soldiers killed and captured. In fact, that was the incident where Jessica Lynch was captured. Still, I skied at Blackjack that day.
You know, I count myself lucky to have the opportunity to engage in skiing. There is that old saying “but for the Grace of God, there go I” and perhaps someday I will be in a disaster while others ski. I hope not, but it may come to pass that way. Next time you are on the ski slopes grumbling about the flat lighting, the bad snow, the long lift-lines, or something else know your day is still going very well.
Be the first to comment