My parents had me on cross country skis by the time I hit kindergarten. If you cross country ski, winter is never a sedentary, solitary season. Instead, it’s filled with adventure and vitality. Thanks to my parents strapping those skis on my feet when I was a kid, I’ve had the privilege of cruising New England’s snow-covered trails through its most beautiful forests most of the winters of my life.
And so, when I strapped cross country skis on the feet of my kindergarten-aged daughter Reese for the first time last season, I prayed she’d enjoy this pursuit. You see, Reese is many things — a ballerina, an artist, a little chef and baker — and I warned myself against being disappointed should she not take to cross country skiing.
But she did take to it. (Thank God.) And we enjoyed a spectacular skiing season last year: We skied until April 22 at Prospect Mountain Ski Area in Woodford, Vt., and we’re in the middle of an even better ski season this winter.
And just yesterday I picked up a pair of ski boots for my 4-year-old daughter Hanna who’s been agitating her older sister and me to get her out on snow, too. Reese has a new pair of skis and Hanna will be on her sister’s hand-me-downs from last winter.
We’re headed this afternoon to Notchview in Windsor, Mass., where we’ll put Hanna on skis for the first time. My heart is so proud.
Kevin Moran, Executive Editor
kmoran@berkshireeagle.com