I sort of knew Jennifer was selling herself short. Back in August, when I took her out to the tennis court to swing a racket (and make her run around like a field mouse), she was hitting solid forehands and backhands within a half hour. She hadn’t played tennis since high school gym class. What I saw was an athlete given a challenge. She’s competitive, she doesn’t like to lose, she has to prove to herself (at the least) that she can do anything.

So imagine what was going through my mind when she dissed her own skiing abilities. Her’s a woman who has skied since eight years old or so; has skied several times in the Rocky Mountains. She wanted me to “teach her.” Okay. I could do that.

And then I watched Jennifer ski yesterday, and thought, “What a sandbagger!” She skis like a duck swims: as natural a movement as breathing. Jen would say I’m crazy for giving her such an accolade, but she’s modest. Look here: she hasn’t skied in three years. Yesterday, within half a run (a short run at that), she was making perfectly correct serpentine turns down the hill, with good pole plants at the start of each turn, going so fast that her ski tips were nearly on the tails of my skis.

Okay, sure Jen needs some practice to get better than she ever thought she was. Don’t we all? Don’t we all want to get better? I can’t wait to get Jen out on a real mountain. Long runs, smooth turns, apres ski drinks, warm fires in the hearth at night.

Yummie!