Last year, I recounted my humbling via snowmobile.
I traveled to Saskatchewan, Canada and "sledded" with people who had been doing it since birth.
When I got there, everyone was in great spirits. Apparently, this is a sport done with day drinking, lots of laughter, and semi-reckless abandon.
We split into groups: Insane, Merely Crazy, and the Turtles. I figured I was relatively safe with the Turtles ... I was wrong.
The machines are capable of gliding over the snow at speeds exceeding 120 miles per hour. I wasn't going nearly that fast ... but the beasts were harder to tame than I expected.
Despite crashing numerous times, totaling a sled, and being sore for weeks ... I had so much fun on year one that I brought my son with me on year two.
Last year, I recognized 2 things:
- Humans are deletion creatures. That means they can hold seven things (plus or minus two) in their memory. While they were focused on fun, I was focused on how to stay on the sled
- You're supposed to stay on the sled, and leaning into the turn helps you do that ... who'd've thunk it?
This year I learned a couple more:
- People don't forget. Everyone remembered my less than skillful sledding.
- Youth is wasted on the young. My son picked it up fast and was speeding as if he'd been on a sled his whole life (despite falls that would cause people with skulls that no longer have soft spots to proceed with caution).
- When you find the right group of people, the fun gets more fun, and struggles seem less challenging.
While sledding is fun, it's the people that make the trip.
Likewise, it's the people you take with you through life that makes it so worth it.
Oh, and I did suck less this time ... Progress!
