Page 16 (1/2)

Vail, Colorado, September 7th, Monday

Carly

You kno they say Christmas is the most wonderful time of year? Well, September in Vail, Colorado, is the exact opposite

There are no carolers singing, or nutcrackers dancing, or chestnuts roasting by an open fire No rosy cheeks or groups of wo for pictures at the bottom of the mountain in fur-lined coats

I look around at the ski equipment on the inside of my shop and shed a virtual tear It’ll still be almost two months before I can put any of it to real use—until I can feel the cold hipping against e down a hill with reckless abandon—and the off-season is starting to feel like a whole lot of ithout any bit of play

Because I, Carly Page, am a ski instructor without any snow, and the weather needs to drop another twenty or so degrees before Mother Nature will even consider changing her mind And boy oh boy has the disparity between pain and pleasure got me in a funk

I watch as Brody organizes the shelves behind the counter, his perfectionist tendencies showing in every les we just got in last week, and wrinkle my forehead draht, he won’t stop until everything is in its perfect place

With peak ski season only a fewinsideready for our busiest ti is focused but me

I’m in the mood to shirk my work and complain

Thankfully for my bottom line, Brody kno to lay down the law like no one else, and up until this point in the day, hasn’t leftmy whiny wand

Vail, Colorado, is a hot spot for skiers all across the country—the world, even—and once that first snowfall hits at the end of October,for equipet ready for when the slopes open in Noveet inventory and setup done noon’t be ready I know this

I just don’t like it

I run roans

“Carly, I swear, stop touching everything I just cleaned”

I shrug Grin And then dance lass countertop like they’re a s “Better?”