It’s been a bit of a weird transitional time this week. The scooter has been retired to the basement for the winter, and the skis have taken their place on the back porch. Last week, it snowed right before I left for a long weekend out of town. Not enough to ski before I left, but too much to sneak a scooter run in. Then, as everyone knows, this happened:

(Actually, I don’t hate Florida. This country needs somewhere to store its alligators, giant bugs, and invasive pythons. And NIMBY, man. NIMBY.)

So basically nothing was happening on the Mush Puppies front this week, except for me trying to keep them occupied by more wholesome activities than dragging the futon couch around the room and get them some degree of exercise in weather where they attempted to simultaneously keep all four feet off the ground within two minutes of going outside. Added to all of that, I knew I would probably need a few solo ski trips to get my legs under me again, especially with my new skate skis this year, and… let’s just say it’s been a bit of a taxing week.

Thank god it’s warmed up enough for the dogs to run off some energy in the backyard, so I don’t have to feel quite so guilty about skiing without them for a few trips. Today, though, I slept in a little too late to go to the park before attending to the business of the real world. Still, I decided to at least try puttering around in the alley (where there is enough packed snow to ski on).

First, a moment. On the left are my new skate skis and poles. On the right are my touring (classic) skis and poles. You can see the skate skis are shorter and narrower, and the poles are longer. They are meant to be used in a completely different motion more akin to roller blading or speed skating, so you are pushing yourself with more force, than the classic back-and-forth of classic skis. (You can also sort of see that the dogs went BANANAS when they saw the skis, which makes me happy. I never want to feel like I’m forcing them to do this stuff.)

I love them. I love them so much.

I will need practice to get the rhythm down, but I can already tell that the skating motion comes far, far more naturally for me than classic skiing motion. Maybe because I have short legs… I don’t know and I don’t really care. All I know is that after only two trips up and down the alley I feel like I have found the skis of my people. Also, they are red. And I like the bindings a lot better. And the boots are amazingly comfortable and warm.

Did I mention that I love them?

Another curious but nice thing is that my intuition is telling me I will actually get the hang of them faster and better with the dogs (or at least A dog at first) instead of by myself. I think the motion will be easier to master with a little bit of speed already going. So hopefully I’ll get out with the dogs here before too long, and skijoring season will officially be underway!