Still catching up on the blog. Blogs are soooo passé, nobody reads this thing and I tried to walk away. God knows my family runs-and-hides when I start talking back country skiing, it’s an annoying Dad/Husband thing, but I’m realizing this is a history of my passions. If nothing else it serves my own purpose. I can go back and relive great memories anytime, anywhere.
I’m posting this on Friday, May 5, 2023. We have Covid in our home, Kara has a severe case, laid flat-in-bed now for three days, with a high fever, massive body aches, congestion and her OX-SAT levels are near the threshold (low 90’s) where we might need to go to the emergency room. I’m still testing negative and I hide out in our basement to avoid the same shit. I wear my construction respirator when I’m near her.
My wife’s brother (my idiot brother-in-law) nearly died from Covid a year ago, so genetics are not in her favor Covid-wise. His OX-SAT levels were in the mid 80’s and he refused to go to the hospital, claiming he would be fine because he had had a “priesthood blessing” that proclaimed he would “recover quickly to continue the work of the lord,” and he fervently insisted that going to the hospital would show a "lack of faith." Did I mention he is an IDIOT! He nearly died due to his extreme, whacked-out religious beliefs. He refused to go to the hospital until his grown children quite literally physically forced him into the car and drove him to the ER. A good thing they did because he nearly died. He spent two weeks in the ICU and the Doctor said he would not have lived through the night if he had not gone to the hospital when he did. He was intubated and put on huge doses of antibiotics because his body was full of Sepsis due to his low OX-SAT levels. His organs were systematically shutting down due to low oxygen level, hence the Sepsis. He is still in terrible health due to his bout with Covid. He’s on oxygen 100% of the time, which he never was before. He is weak, he can’t even walk around the block, when before Covid he was quite active, golfing daily and rode a bike regularly. Now he can’t taste a damn thing and his mind seems blown, like he had a stroke (low OX levels?). Who would want this? Not me.
Several of my coworkers are total nut-job Republican-deniers. They have whined at length how mask-wearing and vaccines are a left-wing government plot to control your mind and money, so it was hysterical watching them stampede all-over themselves to get away from me when I announced I had been exposed to Covid. Perhaps their shit-head conspiracies theories about masks, vaccines and Covid in general are just that, shit-head conspiracies?? When push comes to shove they don’t want to get sick either. Apparently they do believe it’s real. After they stampeded away they immediately tattled on me to the boss and he sent me home for the week. Yes, it was reckless to potentially expose them to Covid, but, based upon the toxic political climate at work, it was even more reckless - to my career - to call-in-sick due to the C-word (Covid, not what you’re thinking).
And just to be clear, I HATE politics in every form and fashion. Anyone who does a deep-dive into any political party or any politician is simply a lost soul. They have sold their souls to the Devil out of vanity, power, a gang mindset, and an attempt to look intelligent (the pinnacle of oxymoron). No, I am not a Democrat but I’m definitely NOT a Republican. Living in Utah I am constantly confronted with hysterical right-wing Gumbies who deem me a liberal and anti-Christian (WTF!) if I don’t like their politics, and it gets old. I can’t go to church anymore because it is largely just a weekly Republican caucus, and I can’t serve two masters. Why would I pretend to revere Christ all the while pushing a political agenda? Leave me out, I’ll ski on Sunday thank you. I can only conclude, based on Utah politics, that the "stupid pendulum" has been stuck on the far right now for far too long, but the left is not much better. Quite frankly, I have more respect for drug-cartels and prostitutes than I do for politicians and political parties. They (druggies and tarts), at least, are truthful, they do exactly what they say they will do. On the other hand, politicians will promise you the world all the while motioning to their aids to slit your throat from behind.
So, here I am, May 5, 2023, sitting in the basement, keeping my distance from my wife, and looking at ski photos from this winter. It has been hot this week, hitting the 80’s, so our A/C is running it’s guts out to keep Kara comfortable in her fevered-Covid state, and I’m shivering in the basement. Worse, looking at these photos from skiing Dude Peak on January 30th make me even colder. That day was the coldest I’ve ever been. It was absolutely frigid. My cheap, key-fob thermometer said it was below zero, plus there was a light breeze that cut right through me. I always take extra base layer to change out when wet with sweat, but today I put on every layer that I had and it still was not enough. I could not stop shivering, my toes and fingers had no feeling and I almost felt panicky knowing that even a minor equipment failure could be dangerous. Despite the cold it was a beautiful day, mostly blue sky, sunshine and sparkly air with the ice crystal floating in the cold air. I planned to ski City Creek Cirque and then several laps on the Crows Foot, but it was just too cold, I ended up just tagging Dude Peak then simply skiing back down the Hidden Lake Trail, then home to a hot shower. Many ski days fade into a jumble mass of memories with other similar ski days, but not this day. It was one that will last in my memory for the extreme cold, and that cold reminds me of the details, the great snow, the beautiful white mountains and the jewels in the air.
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