Uncharacteristic Week

     This past week has been uncharacteristic; it has snowed for 5 days, mountain snow showers that fall, often heavy, all day, but accumulate nothing more than a dusting at night that disappears during the day in spite of the continued showers.  We are being threatened with the worst storm of the season this coming week.  After our January storm that took out our power for 72 hours, we have kept the downstairs bathtub filled, 5 gallon containers filled and ready to deal with it again.  This weekend, we had house guests, so the tub and containers were drained to get them out of the way and to make the guest bath available.
     This afternoon, as they have returned home, we again are preparing for this potential storm by refilling the tub and containers and if we really get a foot or more of wet snow, we may not be able to get out for a few days, so I am also partially preparing some meals that can be finished easily on the propane camp stove.
     Our houseguests were my sister in law and her friend.  We drove the hour to the nearest, very small ski resort, for a day of skiing yesterday.  The conditions were fair, snowing lightly, but it being a Saturday, it was crazy busy, long lines and the snow quickly getting skied off by too many people, many up there with groups and new skiers.  It is a great resort for new skiers, and the friend is a new skier, but it was frustrating to us, especially on the heels of our great week in Colorado.  As a result, hubby and I went over to the most difficult two runs on the mountain, where there were fewer people and more challenge to ski.  Our first run down this, I was feeling confident, unafraid of my speed or the ice patches.  About a third of the way down, suddenly I was in the air, then my head was slamming down on the ice and I was sliding head downhill on my back about another third of the way down the run.  To my amazement, once I stopped, I was able to get up by myself, looked uphill to see a man and his teen son collecting the missing ski and poles and skiing toward me to check on me, shocked that I seemed okay and had gotten up.  After much concern and assurances on my part that I was OK, the Dad stated, "Ma'am, that was a spectacular fall!"  I am lucky, all I seem to have experienced is much soreness, whiplash type soreness, and a sore spot on the back of my head and a small cut on the bridge of my nose (I was wearing a helmet and goggles, fortunately).
     I have never been a fan of guns, but live on a farm in the mountains, and when we moved here, we installed a gun safe for the few guns and a hunting rifle that my husband owned or had inherited.  I have not even fired a gun on a range in more than 40 years.  As we are beginning this spring to start our livestock acquisition, and since the coyote population seems to be swelling, we determined that I should learn to shoot, safely and accurately.  None of the weapons in the house were ones that I could handle, so very uncharacteristically, I suggested to my hubby that perhaps we should go look at a smaller rifle that I could handle, that I could use to defend our livestock and garden from the coyotes and groundhogs should I be here alone and need to do so.  We made the purchase and now we are going to have to make some treks to the local shooting range to familiarize me with the handling and safety of this rifle and to help me learn to fire it accurately.
     This has not be a characteristic week.