Tuesday, April 20, 2004
A brief history of Mandounette in snow:
New Year's Day, 1985. Age 5. Mandounette breaks her nose and suffers a severe concussion when the sled she is riding in flies into a tree at the bottom of the 2nd hill at Ellison Park. Her father, who was steering, bailed off the sled moments before impact, but "forgot" to save his daughter. Her mother finds it funny to call her Rocky Balboa. However, Mandounette is the envy of the entire kindergarten, inspiring Erica T. to throw herself off a jungle gym, breaking her nose, in order to look just like Mandounette.
1990. Age 10. Mandounette is leveled by a 5-person toboggan at the bottom of the 2nd hill at Ellison Park, causing a second concussion for Mandounette and a nasty bloody nose for the kid that was at the front of the toboggan.
1994. Age 14. Mandounette puts on downhill skis for the first time. She bullets out of her group lesson, refusing to do a snowplow turn, and, in race position, flies into a pine forest, where she wipes out magnificently. As she had not yet learned to get up on skis, she believes that she will freeze to death, hidden behind the trees, until her brother, who witnessed the whole event, comes to her rescue. She spends the rest of the day drinking sodas in the lodge, cursing whoever inventing skiing.
1997. Age 17. Mandounette doesn't hurt herself sledding, but does get her car stuck in the snow at the top of the 2nd hill at Ellison Park.
1999. Age 19. Mandounette tries skiing for the 2nd time. She doesn't fall as much, but still doesn't understand what the big deal is.
2004. Age 25. Mandounette spends a full week in the Alps, where there is nothing to do but ski. She takes lessons from a crazy French ski instructor (think Hank Azaria in Along Came Polly, only with just one eye) who has her doing tricks in the half-pipe by the third day. Screw snowplowing! Mandounette is parallel-skiing! She is leaping off of moguls (ok, she hasn't quite learned how to go between them), conquering red pistes (not ready for black yet, see note about the moguls), and trying to go as fast as she can. She finally falls in love with the sport. "Glisser, c'est un plaisir." She is now counting the days until next winter.
1990. Age 10. Mandounette is leveled by a 5-person toboggan at the bottom of the 2nd hill at Ellison Park, causing a second concussion for Mandounette and a nasty bloody nose for the kid that was at the front of the toboggan.
1994. Age 14. Mandounette puts on downhill skis for the first time. She bullets out of her group lesson, refusing to do a snowplow turn, and, in race position, flies into a pine forest, where she wipes out magnificently. As she had not yet learned to get up on skis, she believes that she will freeze to death, hidden behind the trees, until her brother, who witnessed the whole event, comes to her rescue. She spends the rest of the day drinking sodas in the lodge, cursing whoever inventing skiing.
1997. Age 17. Mandounette doesn't hurt herself sledding, but does get her car stuck in the snow at the top of the 2nd hill at Ellison Park.
1999. Age 19. Mandounette tries skiing for the 2nd time. She doesn't fall as much, but still doesn't understand what the big deal is.
2004. Age 25. Mandounette spends a full week in the Alps, where there is nothing to do but ski. She takes lessons from a crazy French ski instructor (think Hank Azaria in Along Came Polly, only with just one eye) who has her doing tricks in the half-pipe by the third day. Screw snowplowing! Mandounette is parallel-skiing! She is leaping off of moguls (ok, she hasn't quite learned how to go between them), conquering red pistes (not ready for black yet, see note about the moguls), and trying to go as fast as she can. She finally falls in love with the sport. "Glisser, c'est un plaisir." She is now counting the days until next winter.
