Playtime in Winter

In the wintertime, I become something of a snow widow.  My husband spends every day anxiously waiting for a snow storm and then when it finally snows, he spends every moment anxiously waiting to get out to play in it.  Then, after he gets his snow playtime, he spends several days being sore, tired, and  sometimes a little bit grumpy before he starts the cycle of waiting and hoping again.  It is good that we actually had a few decent snowstorms at the end of the season this year, since it wasn't looking very promising at first.  He loves to play; it's good for him.  And once in a while, he lets Cole (who is also addicted to the fun) join him.

The following pictures are from three different occasions.  The first two sets of pictures were taken on two separate occasions on the Blue Mountain, our mountain, and the last set were taken when he played in a spot near Mancos with some friends last week.  Britt has had a wonderful time breaking in his new snowmobile, discovering all the crazy things he can do.  We have some video also, but I wasn't able to load it onto this computer, so I won't be sharing that today.  Sorry.

If you are Facebook friends with Britt, you may have seen some of the other pictures friends have taken of him playing on his snowmobile.  Some of those pictures are quite impressive, but again, I do not have access to those pictures, so these will have to do.

A friend of Britt's recently sent an email out to several of the guys who often "sled" together around these parts.  He referred to the 18 year old snowmobile rider from Colorado who was buried and killed in an avalanche in the La Sal Mountains (near Moab).  He reminded the riders that they should be using safety gear when they ride, and that there are only two guys around here who use the proper gear and one of them is my husband.  I hope and pray all the time that no accidents befall them while they are out there, and I do believe there is safety in numbers--Britt usually rides with a decent sized group--but I can't help but worry sometimes.  Hey, at least he is prepared.  I recently read this article about one of the safety tools those who sled or ski in the back country can use and although it is not a 100 % guarantee, at least it is better than having no hope at all if there were an incident.

I hope I have not given the impression that I hate the fact that my husband goes out and rides his snowmobile as often as he can.  Because I don't.  I love that he has something that he loves to do and that he has friends he play with, too.  If you know my husband, you know he works hard.  He deserves to get to play hard, too.