Dark Mountain

It's taken me a few weeks to actually wrap my mind around the whirlwind that was my trip to Vail this year, but the past few days have allowed me to unwind myself enough to really gauge what took place on my short but memorable journey to the middle. 

First of all, it was awesome. Second of all, it was awesome. But aside from its awesomeness (in pretty much every conceivable way) I really feel like I grew as a person. 

Sounds lame, I know. But I'm serious. I got to ski in some of the best snow I've seen in a decade. I got to spend time with my family in one of the most exclusive ski towns on the planet. I got to hang out with my awesome brother, who amazes me more every day with his strength of heart and an uncanny wisdom he's somehow acquired at such a young age. I met someone in a van on the way to Vail from the Denver Airport who has proved to be a real gem of a friend, both in ski country and in Los Angeles. And I also met a guy who worked in a bar who turned out to be not just a guy who worked in a bar, but someone who helped me see that I've got a lot more living to do and I'm worth taking a huge risk for.

I'm usually pretty ready to come home from Colorado each year after being stuck with my family for 8 days. But this year, I realized I wasn't stuck with anything. I was blessed. And I wept as I flew over the mountains on my way back to Los Angeles. I wasn't just sad to be leaving the mountains, but sad to be ending a Christmas vacation I will never, ever forget. 

So, thanks to those of you who helped make that nostalgia possible. I may shed a tear now and then thinking back on the 8 short days of December 2007 I spent in Colorado, but it won't be out of sadness. That I know for sure...