He Skis

If their parents skied, then skiing was for old people. That was the opinion of my children anyway. So when we moved to the mountains and introduced them to snow with gravity, they all decided to be snowboarders because snowboarding was way cooler. They all picked up basic skills, but never really excelled. They didn't dislike the sport but they didn't love it either and I always had to twist arms to get them to go with me. Samantha and Noah eventually gave it up altogether.

If I had tried to talk Jonah into skiing he probably would have resisted. But a couple of his friends were skiers and last year he borrowed some skis and gave it try. He picked it up immediately and by his 3rd day he was a better skier than he ever was a snowboarder. By the end of the season he was as good as me. This year I bought him skis for Christmas and he has far surpassed me. He skis fast and fearless. He skis every weekend and after school and at night and everyday of winter vacation. I'm glad he loves it so much but I still have to twist his arm to get him to ski with me.

Now I'm too slow for him.

Top 50 Books

Earlier, I compiled a list of my 50 top movies (which I've already revised a few times!) I was recently challenged to compile a similar list of books, which actually has proven to be more of a challenge. I've been adding and subtracting for a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll do more of it in the future but I'm pretty comfortable with the following list. You may notice that I've cheated a few times and have included a title that actually represents all of the works of authors I like. Here's the list in alphabetical order.

3 Cups of Tea (incredible difference one man can make)
7 Habits of Highly Effective People (I followed it for a few years anyway!)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (representing all of John Irvings books)
All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (I love all Fulgham books)
And Then There Were None (just using this title to represent Christie books)
Angela's Ashes (humor, compassion, and poverty)
Animal Farm (high school requirement. first example of the power of allegory)
Atlas Shrugged (I have problems with Rand but recognize the importance of her work)
Big Rock Candy Mountain (Stegner is a great writer)
Call of the Wild (perfect book for a teen boy)
Charlotte's Web (tears for a spider)
Cold Mountain (civil war love story)
Crime and Punishment (stream of consciousness look into the mind)
Dancing at the Rascal Fair (Ivan Doig should be more famous)
Dandelion Wine (Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors. He's not just sci fi)
Everything is Illuminated (3 expertly written interconnected stories)
Freakonomics (I look at trends and statistics a different way after reading this)
Great Gatsby (classic that I've reread a few times)
Green Eggs and Ham (Thank-you, Thank-you, Sam I am)
Hardy Boys Mysteries (same plot told 50 different times. But I read them all)
Harry Potter series (popular for a reason)
Hawaii (all of Micheners books) (Centennial, Chesapeake, Texas, The Source, Alaska)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (the human condition)
How to Win Friends and Influence People (all improvement books are versions of this)
Into Thin Air (excellent research)
In Cold Blood (thought Capote was just famous for being famous until I read this.)
Jonathon Livingston Seagull (Don't want to reread, but it was inspirational at 15)
Last Lecture (Inspiring)
Life of Pi (most unusual plot)
Lonesome Dove (very best western ever)
Lord of the Rings (The Trilogy plus The Hobbit)
Louis LaMour (same plot over and over but I read them all as a teen)
Mans Search For Meaning (life changing)
My Friend Flicka (my first novel)
Ode to Billy Joe (my first love story)
Oh The Places You'll Go (for every graduate)
Of Mice and Men (Steinbecks best...according to me!)
Oliver Twist (Dickens best...according to me!)
Poisonwood Bible (just a very talented writer)
Power of Now (light bulb went off over my head)
Princess Bride (great movie, better book)
Roots (gave me a life long hobby)
Stumbling on Happiness (how come we don't know what will make us happy?)
The Road (dark, disturbing, but ultimately a love story)
The Stand (favorite Stephen King)
The Things They Carried (Veitnam, but really a summary of all wars)
To Kill a Mockingbird (how can it not be on everyones list?)
Walden (One of the few books I own)
Water For Elephants (at some point we'd all like to join the circus)
Your Money or Your Life (If I had a do-over, I would live this way)


So what do you think? What am I missing?