Holiday Memories: Cross-Country Skiing at My Farm
I hope you all have a very safe and festive New Year's Eve. Enjoy this encore post from the winter of 2011. It celebrates nature, good friends and healthy living - a perfect way to look forward to 2016.
I finally got to put my cross-country skis to good use. I really love cross-country skiing because it’s an excellent way to tour the countryside. But, it’s also a really effective aerobic exercise, using muscles in the legs, arms, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, and glutes. The kick and glide motion combined with the poling technique to propel you along, burns as many as six-hundred to nine-hundred calories per hour! Compared to downhill skiing, there's a much lower risk of injury. Plus, you don’t need to purchase expensive lift tickets or wait in long lift lines. With all of my carriage roads, my farm is an excellent place to ski. But, one can ski in public parks and nature trails. There are also many cross-country resorts that open miles of groomed trails for a nominal fee. Last weekend, I called some friends to join me for a ski on a bright and sunny day.
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- Cross-country skiing is kind of like riding a bike.
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- The skill comes back quickly.
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- Victor was testing out his skis a bit before hitting the trail.
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- Muffin Dowdle, Victoria Michalis, me, Muffin’s father – Victor Ziminsky, and Mike Tedesco
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- It was a beautiful bright winter day to go cross-country skiing with my friends.
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- Everyone was finally ready.
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- And off we went!
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- However, this area was plowed too close to the gravel and it got icy.
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- Guess who slipped and fell?
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- No worries – I took out my camera and shot the view from below.
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- Muffin wanted to ski through a field.
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- Blazing a trail
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- The carriage roads through the woods had been plowed after the last snowfall, making cross-country skiing quite pleasant.
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- We skied past the little woodland shed, nestled deep in the woods, like something out of a fairy tale.
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- And along came Mike!
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- Victoria leading the way
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- Muffin keeping up with Victor
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- Victoria is a strong skier.
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- A really nice shot
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- Muffin taking my picture
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- I love this sport. It’s so energizing!
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- My beautiful sycamore
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- Taking Muffin’s picture
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- Heading back, we met up with Betsy and the Friesians.
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