Tension

Every morning I zip up the access road to Sugarbush at 50 miles per, mind buzzing with ideas and possibilities. I enter my shack, practically quivering with excitement. Then work starts, and I have to put my zest on the back burner. Those ideas bubble up, ferment, just itch to get out and be free. These are ideas on everyday life, to say nothing of those ones involving you know who. The latter are particuarly ummmmm....insert your adjective here.

(Footnote ... I just walked into the kitchen and asked Jesse how much I was allowed to write about him. I got the green light! So long as I don't embarass him too much.)

Speaking of embarrass - Sugarbush employees get the weekly newletter, "Beat Around The Bush". This week's issue has an I Spy column. I don't have it on me, so I'll paraphrase. Basically it says "I spy a jeep driving, snowboarding lifty following a broken-armed fellow lifty out of the parking lot. Is it love?" We haven't figured out who placed it yet. :-)

Anyhoo, I'm over at Jesse's house again tonight. We just came up from his studio in the basement, where he's been painting and I've been writing for the past 2+ hours. Read some things about the dada philosophy. Feel like I'm going to burst out of my skin again. Gahhhhh!!!! Too much pent up energy! How to spend it, what to do.

Jesse

Soooo....about Jesse. Jesse says I'm not allowed to write about him anymore on my blog. Currently I'm over at his house hanging out after a fun filled day at work and evening with him. But you don't get to hear about it, because Jesse prefers to remain annonymous. :-)

Still At Work...

Not much new. Still going to work, still enjoying it, still broken. I've made an entire zoo of origami animals to keep myself amused in the lift shack.

Lift operations

The first few days back at Sugarbush have been fun. Everybody does a double take when they see me and say "Wow! Didn't you break your arm? Where's your cast?" Then I show them my 13 inch long scar from surgery and wait for them to utter the inevitable "EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!"

Work has been ridiculously easy. All I'm allowed to do now is to push buttons. No flipping chairs, raking the ramp, or any of the other fun things. I'm still sitting around bored like I was at home, but at least I'm getting paid for it. To make up for the boredom I'm starting to come out of my shell and have longer conversations with my fellow lifties.

One of those lifties is a guy named Jesse. On Thursday Jesse and I spent the day working together for the first time. I had to leave early for a physical therapy appointment...but we bumped into each other again down at the Waitsfield post office later that afternoon.

I finally went to bed after midnight. Jesse and I had caught a movie called "The Corporation" at the Eclipse Theater, explored his studio and the rest of the house, listened to him play guitar (I wish I were that talented!), and stayed up late talking. He's been the first person in a long time that actually knew what spanikopita was when I asked. Mmmmmmm.....

Also exciting that evening was when I was describing my van to Jesse's dad. He said "Hmm, are you the one in the paper?" and whipped out a copy of the Village Reporter. Inside was a picture of my van! Somebody had taken it while I was parked at Sugarbush.

Now I'm home for my days off. Time to go on a baking spree! I have a bunch of peanut butter cookie dough chilling in the fridge. I think I'll make brownies too.

Earlier today I crawled underneath my van to tighten up the exhaust. It had gotten loose awhile back when I got stuck in a snowbank coming out of the driveway. Now it purrs quietly, but it's harder to start.

Work as a lift operator

I'll update sometime this weekend...Saturday and Sunday are my days off. So much fun stuff! Last night was pretty cool - Jesse (another lift op) and I went to see a movie over at the Eclipse theater. Fun fun!

Doctor suggestions

Any suggestions for funny things to try and get the surgeon to write on the note authorizing me to go back to work?

Doctor's Note

On Friday I went to my general practitioner to get a note saying I could go back to work. She wrote on the prescription pad:

"Heather can resume work as a lift operator @ Sugarbush. No heavy lifting. For complete recuperation, Heather needs physical therapy in the form of feeling Dave Forward's hairy chest at least once a week."

Dave is my boss. :-) The powers that be at Sugarbush thought the note was a hoot. They asked if Dave himself had written it. Well, one of my bosses was all set to take me back to work on Saturday. When we went to talk to the guy in charge of employee safety, he nixed me working until I got a note from the surgeon who did the work ... just in case. My appointment is on Monday.

I hope Dave is getting teased mercilessly about the note. I'm not there, somebody has to do it for me :-)

How many does it take to change a lightbulb?

I grew up Unitarian. It's so true :-)

Charismatic: Only 1 - Hands are already in the air.

Pentecostal: 10 - One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None - Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None - Candles only. (Of guaranteed origin of course.)

Baptists: At least 15 - One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.

Episcopalians: 3 - One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks, and one to talk about how much better the old one was.

Mormons: 5 - One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.

Unitarians: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, 3-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Methodists: Undetermined - Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. Bring a bulb of your choice to the Sunday lighting service and a covered dish to pass.

Amish: What’s a light bulb?

Van conversion

It snowed today! By tomorrow morning I should be able to look out the window and see 6 inches of new powder. Woohoo! Hmmm, maybe I should go skiing... :-)

Tomorrow I go to the Doctor and try to wheedle out a note that says I can go back to work. If I get one, I'm driving to Sugarbush to drop it off, talk to everybody, and get myself inserted back into the schedule. I'll also do some locker decorating and give everybody homemade peanut butter cookies.

Today I made a huge collage of my favorite pictures to put on the outside of my locker. I'll look at it and be reminded every day of what I want in life. I have pics of various trips I've taken over the years, my van, pets, house, etc. I'm wondering what sort of decoration I can get away with in the lift shack? I'm going to tack up a United States map for starters...

Decorating my van has been a slow process. Most of the curtains are now installed, the parquet floor is dry-laid and the storage system is coming together. When/if it gets warm again, I'm hauling out the goop to lay my floor for real. What will I do with myself once it's finished?

Ski resort

Today I drove to Waitsfield to visit Sugarbush. It was great to see everybody again! They were all surprised to see me. I spent three hours hanging out at various lift shacks talking to my fellow lifties, even riding up the chairlift to say hi to a couple of people up there. I also painted the interior of my locker in prep for moving back into it. Tonight I'm going to design a collage of my pictures for the exterior.

It's nice to be able to move my right arm again! I was able to put on and take off my jacket, albiet very slowly. I kept grossing everybody out by showing them my incision. Great reactions :-)

Local Library

This week mom has a series of appointments at the hospital to be massaged and wrapped up like a mummy. I'm a mile away at the regional library, amusing myself with the books and computers.

I've had a library card here since before I can remember. Not much has changed in those years....The walls are still adorned with the same 80's era posters promoting reading. The place has the same musty, old book smell. Even the librarians are all the same.

One of the things I like about this library is they don't have any late fees. It's something I appreciate today, having just returned two books that were due on November 29th. Oops. Time to go check out some more!

Sugarbush

Sugarbush was an eye opening experience for the 20 days I was there. It started in the mornings, when my eyes would snap open at 4am, never fail. I'd poke my nose out from under the 7 blankets to check the clock and temperature. It was always the same - too cold!

I slept in my van in various parking lots on resort property on the nights I didn't feel like driving the hour home. I ended up there most of the time. I usually slept in one of the condominium lots at the Lincoln peak area. In the morning I'd roll out of bed and drive the 1/2 a mile to the gym. It opened at 6:30am on the weekdays. I'd go in in my pajamas, take a long, hot shower, and get into my bathing suit. I'd crank up the sauna, then go for a splash in the pool and whirlpool. Laze around in the sauna to dry off, then into my work clothes. I had to be at work at 7 or 8, depending on the schedule that day.

I'm going to gloss over work here for awhile. I'm more interested in reliving the inter personal soap opera that was going on. What a show! It seemed like everybody was kissing and/or having sex with everybody else...Even the people who were married to others. I hadn't realized the magnitude of my goody-two-shoesness until I listened to the stories people had to tell, and really watched eveybody in action. I personally never did anything...Except tease one of my bosses, Dave.

Dave is in his late 30's and has a reputation of trying to get into the pants of every female at the ski area. Who knows how often he succeeds. I'm betting quite a bit. When I arrived, I became Dave's next project. Poor Dave, he never had a chance...But boy was he fun to tease! One evening we were out at the local bar playing pool, when a lady asked if he was my father. Dave couldn't live it down the rest of the evening. Well, the next morning I came into work, put my hair back in barrettes, and assumed my most innocent looking face. I clutched my teddy bear to my chest, stood in the doorway of his office and said... "Daddy? I had a bad dream last night. Can you do something to make me feel better?" Dave turned bright red. Everybody else in the locker room thought it was a hoot. :-)

I miss the fun I had at Sugarbush. Working the lifts allowed me to have a lot of contact with people from all over. I became less shy, more cheery and outgoing. It's hard not to when your job is to greet people and make them feel welcome! I also discovered the pleasures of a perfectly raked ramp. It was soothing to be out there making a great ramp, lost in the patterns of the steel rake and my thoughts. I had a loooooot of time to think.
I need some more time to think to figure out what to do next.

My former lift shack

Back of my van, with candles

Lifts in the mist

Heather's World Updates

I'm back at home after three days at the hospital for my broken arm. I now have 3 steel plates and various screws holding them in, and one 5 1/2 inch long screw lengthwise in the bone. Surgery took 8+ hours. The docs sliced me from upper arm to below the elbow and peeled back the skin and muscles to rearrange eveything inside. I have a bunch of interesting looking bruises.

I'm adjusting to life as a lefty and one-handed typer. My arm is slowly getting better, but it will be a long time before I can do much with it. Time to start thinking about tame jobs to do for a living, at least until I'm completely healed up. Any suggestions?