By Malori
Before I came to work at Vista Verde, I cringed at the mere thought of winter. The most common response I receive when I say that is, “Um, aren’t you from Colorado?” Yes. I am a Colorado native and I hate winter. Well, used to hate winter. Thanks to VVR, I may actually be warming up to winter – just a little.
I guess in some ways you can blame my distaste for winter on my gene pool. I generally blame all my “glitches” on my gene pool. My mom is a long time hater of wind, snow, ice and everything cold. Naturally, like her, I got cold easily which makes being out in the cold an unpleasant and usually brief experience. I went downhill skiing at least twice a year when I was younger, but I just never could get past the icy chill the trips up the lift left me with.
It wasn’t until I was introduced to back country skiing, snowshoeing, snow biking, and skate skiing that I decided: maybe winter isn’t so bad after all. All those activities actually keep me warm enough to stay outside, and in doing that, have open my eyes to how beautiful and fun winter is! Navigating through a silent snow covered forest is a magical experience – and riding a bike on snow, who would have thought!? Now, I find myself looking forward to the change of seasons and even feel a tinge of excitement when I see those snowflakes falling. I guess all I can say is, if you think you hate winter, give it another chance, coming from the CO girl who used to hate winter.