Spring is here! And that means Spring Breakers! Well, usually it does, but this note has been updated to reflect the current COVID-19 state of SSI, and our Spring Break feels very different this year, and so much has changed since I wrote this just a few weeks ago.
Spring Break is normally a time when high school and college kids descend on the island for a few days of sun and fun on their break from school. Why don’t we adults get a Spring Break? Nobody told me back in March of ’84 that I was on my last Spring Break. March ’85 came around and there was no beach trip or snow ski trip paid for by my parents. What a wake up call!
The first time I ever went skiing was Spring Break 1978 and I’ve tried to go skiing every year
since. I’ve missed a few years here and there due to work or lack of funds, but Spring Break equals snow skiing in my mind. Of course, at 58 years old, I’m not quite the daredevil on the slopes that I was back in my teens. Nowadays, instead of going down double diamond black runs, I tend to breeze along the groomed blue runs at a nice leisurely pace.
On my “Spring Break” trip this year, I went to Vail. At the ski rental shop, there was a college-aged employee assisting me in ordering my skis, boots, and poles. In determining what level of skier I was, the kid asked me a few questions. I braggingly told him I had been skiing for over 40 years! He looked me up and down, then said, “You like going at a leisurely pace on the groomed blue runs don’t you?”
I miss Spring Break ’84 when I could ski the moguls, stay up past 7:30 p.m. and not feel sore the day after skiing! But most of all I miss my folks paying for the trip!
Hey, Mom, wanna go to Vegas once it’s safe to travel again?!