Morning private with two kids; first timers. The 9-year-old started to get it, the 7 year old wasn't quite at the developmental stage to really nail down the turns. Afternoon private with a 16-year-old girl who wanted to improve her riding in parks and trees.

Early game at winter league ultimate. Snowy roads all the way up to Vergennes and had to drive slowly, partly because of the conditions but mostly because i kept getting stuck behind slow drivers. I felt very ignored in the first half of this game but got some good handling done in the second half (and then threw a long forehand away). We were down something like 6-0 and lost to the Red team 29-25.

Took the day off. My toes were all bruised and sore, so i asked for an extra day off. That afternoon, i drove down to Emerald Lake State Park to meet a blindish date (we'd met through a dating app) for a dog walk. It went okay.

All-day lesson with one mid-high green girl and one high-blue/black boy. Bit of a split, but we all got along and the snow was pretty good.

I was originally scheduled to have a private with a 5-year-old in the morning but i asked to be put on kids groups instead. I ended up with two boys who were skiers but first-time snowboarders. There was a bit of rain in the morning, then it got very warm and breezy with super sticky soft snow.

Bulo ws hanging out in the neighbor's yard when i got home. I found that he could squeeze through a slot next to an old gate in the back yerd. Wired it shut.

Six kids today two reds, two yellows, two greens. Actually, it was really more like two Snow Stars-level yellows and two slightly-better yellows. I had the better, older kids and we slushed around in the rain.

All-day kids group... ?

While i was walking around the farm, i noticed Bulo rolling in the snow and leaving a bright red spot. On closer inspection, i found that his ear had been sliced open somehow. I got him in the truck and over to the vet, who took him in and sedated him for surgery. I picked him up a few hours later, slightly groggy and bandaged.

I was scheduled to teach adults in the morning then have a 4-person private in the afternoon, which i really wasn't keen on doing. Andrew agreed to switch with me and i stayed in kids world, where i took the one green-level kid who turned out to be barely a yellow. I taught him for the morning, then handed him off to the other yellow group and wound up teaching the one adult that Andrew had in the morning.

All-day upper level kids group of two—one solid blue-level, one mid-green level. Snowed all day, but started out warm, so as the temps fell, all our gear froze up.

All-day upper level kids group of the blue-level from the day before. Found untouched powder in the trees.

All-day kids group of one. Started out on the magic carpet for a few runs, went up the A Quad for a few runs, then started exploring from the top of the mountain.

All-day kids of one very cautious yellow-level kid. Warm, sprinkly. I took a run to the top at the end of the day.

Early game at winter league. I threw a few hucks away, but scored a point and almost scored a second but flubbed the catch. We lost to the Gray team 32-31.

There were seven kids today, all green-level. Steven took three of them and i took the upper four. Very warm, slushy, wet day, but on the last run, i acheived my seasonal goal of getting out of the halfpipe.

Rainy day. Seven kids again—six beginners and one who'd done it before. I got no lesson, went over to adults and also got no lesson, so was allowed to go home and take a day off. Nice.

Morning private with a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, who could slide down the bunny hill pretty well. We took a few breaks and they both lasted until 11:30 or so. Afternoon adult group with one highschool girl who was getting her turns down in the slushy snow.

One of my supervisors stopped me halfway through my morning lesson to tell me that my neighbor called—Bulo was running around the neighborhood. Ugh. I called her at lunch and she said that her boyfriend put him back in the yard and patched the current hole, but when i got home, no dog. Message on my phone—he was at the across-the-street neighbor’s house, hanging with them. So i took him for a walk along the AT/LT on my way in to Rutland to buy some cement blocks to line the bottom of the fence with. We’ll see....

All-day lesson with one blue/black-level kid. Lots of slushy riding.

When i got home, Bulo was contentedly in the house, but after coming home from a walk, he was suddenly out on the front porch. Rrrgh. So i plugged up another hole in the fence with more cement blocks.

Same kid again. Not quite as slushy today.

Late game at ultimate. We did not play well. I got scored on a bunch early. I felt like i was cutting and running hard and being looked off all the time. Frustrating. We lost 35-26 to the Green team.

Bought a bunch of cement blocks and lined the outside of the fence so Bulo couldn't dig under. He found a new way....

I got the first proof of my latest book today. I'm not entirely happy with the cover, but it's good enough.

Two yellow-level kids, one who started to get the whole concept of turns, one who wouldn't listen, wouldn't answer simple questions, complained, wanted to take breaks, wanted to ride the lift, and spilled his entire bowl of clam chowder on his lap.

Only three kids total today. I ended up with a high-yellow level and we took some runs on the magic carpet, then up the lift, then one run to the top in the afternoon. He was exhausted.

Only two kids total today, both beginners. Everyone (including me) wanted to ride with the snowboard clinic going out, but i decided to take the kids. One had a crying meltdown just before lunch and opted to not continue after lunch. her older sister stayed with it and got worn out by the heavy heavy slushy snow but was able to make a couple runs up the A/B Quads.

I manually focused close to the camera to get the snow in focus for today's picture.

Zero snowboard lessons today. I went out with Austin, Andrew, and Jean Yves (later joined by Sean and Pete) for an impromptu clinic, then bought some fencing at LaValley's and was home by lunch.

I wish i'd been able to be closer or have a longer lens, but it was cool to catch this robin in flight.

I ran hard again at winter league and surprisingly scored three points. But i think i hurt my hip. The Yellow team out-juked us, but we managed to get two points in the last 1:30 to tie the game, but then they scored the subsequent long point to win 26-25.

Again no lessons. I ran my first clinic in two years with Pete, Andrew, and Jean Yves.

Second dog-walking date with the same woman, this time around Lowell Lake, which was still frozen over.

I joined Austin at the Wernick House, where i picked up my snowboard gear, then we drove down to Londonderry to pick up Wayne. The three of us continued down to Mount Snow, where we snowboarded in the terrain parks for the morning. We had a great (cheap!) lunch at the Carinthia base lodge, then rolled out just as it was starting to rain.