Thank You, Skiing.

By Wendy Clinch •  Updated: 11/26/13 •  3 min read

So it’s Thanksgiving Week, the time we all spend battling traffic, eating like pigs, watching football, and hitting the stores to engage in a money-spending orgy we’ll be paying off for months ahead.

I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Well, sort of. Because even though we do all those things — to one extent or another — we also spend time giving thanks for the many blessings we have in our lives. Which is really the point of the holiday, after all.

And what’s one of the things we give thanks for, boys and girls?

Skiing, of course.

So I thought I’d devote this week’s post to why I’m thankful for skiing.

Hang onto your ski poles. Here we go:

1) Skiing makes me excited about winter. Seriously. If it weren’t for skiing, I’d probably  spend the winter burrowed beneath a blanket, wishing for warmer weather. Thanks to skiing, I’m positively giddy about the winter months. It’s the best season Mother Nature dishes out, and I wish it were a heck of a lot longer.

2) Skiing keeps me physically fit during the winter, and gives me something to stay fit for during the off season. To be honest, I’d probably work out anyway. But it’s a good motivator.

3) Skiing is one of the main reasons I ditched my old life back in Pennsylvania and moved to the beautiful state of Vermont, which I love with all my heart.  It’s a move I’ve never regretted, not even in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. I <3 Vermont.

4) It’s broadened my horizons considerably. Thanks to skiing (and TheSkiDiva.com) I’ve made tons of new friends and traveled to places I’d never have gone to otherwise.

5) It’s made me appreciate certain advancements in technology. Chairlifts, snowmaking, technical clothing, shaped skis — all the things that make skiing both easier and more readily accessible to everyone out there.

6) It’s given me a new fondness for soup, chili, and hot chocolate. Essentially anything hot. There’s nothing like a bowl of hot soup/chili when you come in from sub-zero temps and a howling wind. Yum.

7) It’s made me appreciate snow tires and four wheel drive, necessities for living here in the Green Mountain State. Both have saved my bacon more than once.

Of course, skiing isn’t the only thing I’m grateful for. Friends, family, health, the list goes on and on. So this Thanksgiving, count your blessings. Turn your thoughts to the good things in life. Draw your loved ones close, eat a good meal, and give thanks for whatever you hold dear.

I wish you all a happy holiday.

* Reposted from Thanksgiving, 2011. Hope you don’t mind, but it works this year, too, don’t you think?