I totally forget about snowboarding in the summertime.  ~Shaun White

Me & Kyle snowboarding… our 1st run of the season 7 Springs 1/5/13

On Saturday, I took Kyle snowboarding at Seven Springs.  It was sincerely a perfect day.  The sun came out to expose a brilliant blue sky and white fluffy clouds, the temperature remained in the twenties, the windchill was low and it wasn’t too crowded.  Saturday was the first time we were able to get out this season.  Unfortunately, last year I didn’t get my board out, not even once, due to a lack of a real winter.  But this season I decided to take advantage of the winter conditions early.

Once the snow falls, Kyle always reminds me about snowboarding, that and sled riding.  Two of his favorite winter pastimes.  This year, I saw in Kyle’s expression and heard in his voice, the sounds of disappointment and accusation from skipping a snowboarding season.  He reminded me all summer that we didn’t go out once and he continued to reiterate the same over Christmas.  If I could help it, history was not going to repeat itself and Saturday was a testament to that.

Me, Casey & Kyle taking a break from snowboarding. The Foggy Goggle fireplace is the best! 7 Springs 2009

We had a great day!  After we ate lunch we stopped into the Foggy Goggle to sit by the fireplace.  I know it’s a bar, but that fireplace is always blazing and no one is ever hanging around it because they’re at the bar.  That’s my secret location to sit and relax and warm up before heading back out.  I have been taking Kyle there when he started snowboarding at four years old.  In fact, while we sat on the bench in front of the fire waiting for our cloths to warm up a bit, Kyle nearly fell asleep.  He never does that, so I know he must have already had a good workout during our morning runs.   I leaned over to Kyle and commented “You know buddy, you’ve fallen asleep in here many times before.  When you were really little, I would lay my coat on the floor, in front of the fireplace and you would take a nap until our cloths were dry.  Then we would head back onto the slopes.”  Kyle smiled at me and said, “I did?  How big was I?”  He is too funny!  I showed him about how much space on the floor he consumed and where I placed him safely out of the way.  Everyone would walk past this cute little blond haired boy, peacefully sleeping and smile.  He really was way too cute!

Me & Kyle ready to board the chairlift at 7 Springs 1/5/13

Funny story.  The Foggy Goggle had a larger than life statue of the Captain Morgan pirate in the one entrances.  The first time I had Kyle in there to sit by the fire, we had to pass this monster statue that no doubt caught his eye.  All of a sudden Kyle tugs on my arm and says “Look Aiya, Captain Jack Sparrow!”  What do you say to that?  After I was done laughing, I said, “Ya buddy, looks like him doesn’t it?”  Kyle was so happy about recognizing what he thought was the Pirates of the Caribbean character, I didn’t said a word.

Though, he did bring it up to my parents and I had to pull mom aside and explain what he was talking about.  Mom just rolled her eyes and asked if he was allowed in there.  It’s not like I plant him at the bar and order him shots.  We just take advantage of the emptiness surrounding grand old fireplace and the warm heat radiating from it.

When I hit the slopes, I like to go early.  One, because I like getting a head start on the day and it’s usually not too crowded, making it easier with Kyle.  I’m not a big fan of crowds, particularly the swarms of them who all seem to have just started skiing and are zipping past my little guy with uncontrollable movements.  Also, let’s face it, I’m not the most patient with waiting in line to ride the chair lift either.  Hence why I like to get on the slopes early.  If they would allow riders on the run at 7:00 am, I would be there waiting to partake.

Once we got past the fitting of the snowboarding boots, we were golden.  Yes, let’s discuss the boots.  Kyle has this thing about his cloths,  particularly his shoes, touching his skin.  He doesn’t like anything to be fitted, I’m not talking tight, I’m talking fitted perfectly to his body.  Nope, not for Kyle.  If his shoes and cloths are not hanging off of him, he thinks they are too tight and throws a big fit.  Did I mention snowboarding boots are suppose to fit?  They need to be snug, not tight, but not loose.  They need to be able to respond to the rider when he/she turns to carve.  And to do that, the boots need to be fitted, not hanging off his feet.  I will admit it does take a bit to get used to wearing snowboarding boots, especially early in the season, until you’re body is warmed up and loose.  Listening to Kyle complain about the boots most of the day, drove me crazy, to be honest.  But he wasn’t too bad I guess, nothing I didn’t expect.

My goal of the day, besides improving Kyle’s riding, was for him to become independent on the mountain.  Not that I was planning on abandoning him, never ever!  I’m talking about managing his own board.  Kyle never really buckled his own bindings before and I always helped him up whenever he fell.  I don’t generally baby Kyle, but he started snowboarding so young, I really had to assist him and then it became a habit for both of us.  A habit I wanted to stop this year, after all he is eleven.  I tried to be as hands off as I possibly could, forcing him to do for himself.  Did I also mention the kid has NO flexibility?

By the time we rounded out the day, Kyle was gaining a little bit of flexibility and doing pretty good with pulling himself up and bending over to strap on his own bindings.  Along the way, Kyle did receive some assistance from kind on lookers.  Much like myself when I first started snowboarding.  I guess we both either have that look of being purely pathetic or being too cute to pass up.  I vote for the later, but I have a feeling reality lies in the first.

Kyle took a picture of my raccoon hat wearing goggles… snowboarding at 7 Springs 1/5/13

Kyle was even managing to get on the chair lift by himself, of course the few extra inches he’s grown over the years helped in that department.

Our runs on Saturday was a testament that Kyle didn’t miss a beat from two winter’s ago.  He is not the strongest rider, or the most daring but he can hold his own.  He just needs practice.  There were a few times when someone was going to run into Kyle and he reacted pretty quickly to avoid a collision.  I was quite impressed, thinking I was going to have to peel him off of the run!  But nope he maintained control when the other party didn’t.  Good job buddy!

Kyle is also a considerate rider, always looking over his shoulder and beside him for others that are sharing the mountain.  He never pushes or cuts people off either.  He will wait patiently for others to get out of his way and he never wants to hurt anyone.  That’s my Kyle, still wearing his big heart on the slopes.

Throughout the day, we couldn’t help but getting silly.  It wouldn’t be a typical day for us if we didn’t.  Every time I put my goggles on top of my head, which is wear my raccoon hat was resting, Kyle would start laughing.  He said it looked like the raccoon was wearing the goggles.  And it did!

Speaking of raccoon hat.  There was someone there wearing a HUGE raccoon skin cap, complete with a tail.  It was ridiculous!  It was so big and obnoxious  on the person’s head that it looked like an actual raccoon was hanging on for dear life.  Every time we saw it, we busted out laughing!  You couldn’t miss it.  I thought we were on Wild Kingdom.

Hopefully this year brings us more of those days.  I’m not necessarily talking about the conditions, but the time spent together.  We had a blast and I really cherish my one-on-one time with Kyle.

I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.  ~Edgar Allan Poe

Me & Rascals. My raccoon loved the kazoo! c.1993

It has been about four months since I brought home a little kitten called Storm.  In that time, her actions have flashed me back to my former self.  I think I’ve mentioned that I’ve always had cats.  My pappy used to call me old cat women.  So the true nature of a cat is not foreign to me, but some of the things Storm does reminds me of another pet I had, Rascals.

Rascals was our raccoon.  Yes I said raccoon!  She was amazing!  Is it legal to have a raccoon as a pet?  No, but it’s not like we went out in the woods and stole a baby raccoon from its mother.  My dad was a woodsman for most of his life.  He was the guy who cut down timber and hauled the logs back to the sawmill or wherever they needed to go.  Throughout his life he’s run into his share of animals, wild and domestic.  Yep, dad would come across cats that were starving in the woods because their owners would abandon them, so he would bring them home to give them a fighting chance at life.  Dad did the same with abandoned or injured wild animals, one happened to be a raccoon.

This bundle of helplessness came as a package of three newborn raccoons to be exact.  Unbeknownst to dad, he took down a tree with the babies, who were so little, their eyes weren’t even open yet.  Dad would never let these little babies lay there to die.  I mean who could?  They would have never had a fighting chance.  Ever!  They were just babies!

Rascals loved Nilla Wafers c. 1993

I’ll never forget, this happened the day of my junior prom.  When I got home that night, well actually the next morning, there they were three little tiny critters, who needed to be bottle fed.  Unfortunately, two of the them died shortly after arriving at the Piper household.  They were also the two runts of the bunch.  Dad said they could have had internal injuries that we didn’t know about, or they could have already been sick.  Regardless, we did our best and with that, Rascals survived!

Trying to be responsible, we called the vet and asked if we could bring her in to get her shots, specifically rabies shots.  They told us, we are suppose to release Rascals back in the wild, even after we informed the vet of her age.  They informed us that she was not a domestic animal.  Really?  We had no idea! (sarcasm) Again, who would release a helpless baby and set her on the course for sure death?  Not my family. Especially after we bottle fed the animal to health.  Still denied!

Anyway, Rascals grew up fast and bad, she was a little stinker.  Little known fact to some, but raccoons are very intelligent creatures.  Almost too smart for their own good.  Just to share a few examples, if Rascals was out  in the garage, she would stand on a pile of boxes by the door leading into the kitchen.  She knew how to turn the door knob and push it open to let herself in, believe it or not!  I’ve seen it first hand.  Eventually, when she got to be too big for the house, mom actually had to lock the door to keep her out.  I felt so bad, I would sometimes unlock the door and let her find her way back in.

Rascals favorite place to hang out was onto of dad’s gun cabinet.

In our bathroom at my parents house, we have a tub with a shower as well as a shower stall shielded with a plastic curtain.  We would leave the door slightly ajar when taking a shower so Rascals could “sneak” in to play with the water running down the drain.  Can you imagine showering and all of a sudden you see these little feet peeking out from under the shower curtain trying to catch the water going down the drain?  It was too funny!  The first time she did it, I nearly shot out of the shower with surprise.  Considering I had my eyes closed, washing my hair and then feeling something grabbing at my feet!  It was kinda freaky.  But eventually it became a game and I looked forward to Rascals playing in the water while I showered.

Ok those are true raccoon traits, almost human like intelligence and logic, and the love of water.  Neither of which are Storm.  However, if I was talking about obsession with my hair and hair ties, that describes both of them to a tee.  Sometimes Storm likes to lay across the back of my neck while I’m standing or sitting.  She did it when we were at the vet, I stood and she was anchored between my neck and the wall.  She also did that when we were driving, between my neck and the seat.  Very Rascals like!

The litter of raccoons, only one made it…Rascals c. 1993

Rascals loved being up by my neck, usually to play with my hair.  When I was in high school my hair length would vary from a little past my shoulders to boy cut short.  When we first got Rascals my hair was down to my shoulders.  Then at one point, I got my brown locks cut up to my ear lobes.  Needless to say she was upset.  Rascals would sit on my shoulder grabbing the empty space that used to contain my hair, and she would snort.  Apparently showing her feelings toward my new do, showing me that she didn’t like this change.  Storm doesn’t seem to care if my hair is up or down, but there were a few times already, I would wake up with Storm in my hair!  Yes, she would nestle her face and front paws among all of my curls on the pillow, either to sleep or I to play among my knots.  Believe it or not, it’s kind of relaxing.

Let’s not even discuss hair ties and such.  In high school I could never find my hair things.  They would always go missing, even while I was wearing them.  Sometimes as I sat on the couch, Rascals would creep up on the back of the furniture to play in my hair.  But then she would slowly move her paws up to the top of my head where my headband was resting.  She was quick, because before I could even read her mind, she grabbed the hair accessory off my head and was running away with it.  I would find my hair things in the 10lb bag of dog food, under the couches and in corners tucked away.  Recently, this same occurrence was happening again.  The other day, I saw something peeking out from under my bed.  When I got down on all fours to better examine the space, I found a big pile of hair ties!  Mystery solved.  My raccoon has been reincarnated into my cat.  I couldn’t believe my eyes!

Rascals needed a nap. Spring 1993

The similarities don’t just stop there.  With both of those fur balls, my closet doors have to remain shut.  When Storm hears me getting ready in the morning, she will ambush me and run at mock speeds to get into my closet.  I don’t know if she thinks its a secret play land for her, but I don’t want her using my cloths, which are resting on hangers, to be her rock climbing wall.  Rascals used to do the same thing, except I would also lock her out of my room.  She would get into everything, even destroying my red lipstick.  I will admit, after I got over being mad at the pulverized new red lipstick, I did laugh at the raccoon wearing it all over her face.  It’s silly to say that I have to lock these creatures out of certain areas.  But I did with Rascals and I do with Storm.

Did I mention that Storm is a stripped kitten?  As she gets older patches of red/pink are showing up between the stripes, but her tail is dark and patterned with lines.  When she puffs up her tail, let me tell you, I feel like I’m staring at Rascals.  Even their fur is the same, course yet soft.

As the similarities unfold between Rascals and Storm, I’m sure I’ll be reporting on them.  It’s funny, I’ve known others who’ve had raccoons as pets.  Yep, I’m not the only one.  All the stories are very similar, the love of dog food and Nilla wafers,  the intelligence, the orneriness, as well as the realization of how amazingly smart raccoons are and how much fun they had with the creatures as pets.  Anyone who had the privilege of raising such a little critter loved their time with their raccoon, at least until they got older.  Although, that’s a separate blog post.  I’m not saying everyone should run out and get a raccoon.  Absolutely not!   And no one should ever approach a wild animal, but to have had the opportunity to really appreciate such a living thing was a blessing.  Rascals was an experience, one I would never have traded for anything, she is apart of me and who I am.  I love it that Storm brings back those memories.