Snowboarding in July - God is good

Last night I went for a lesson at the sno zone at the Braehead Xscape centre. It was pretty good stuff. For those who don't already know, it's an indoor slope with actual snow. The whole area is kept at a temperature of -5. (It feels so hot when you come out.)

I did a 1.5 hour lesson in Freestyle Level 1. Freestyle refers to doing tricks such as jumps and spins rather than simply riding down the hill. Level 1 refers to the fact that it's as basic as they can make it. I figured that since it's not a very big slope anyway, I'm not going to get too much of a thrill from just bombing the hill because it'll be over in 10 seconds.

In the lesson I did the following:

• Nose press


• Tail press


• Ollies


• Nollies


• Flatland spins (both frontside and backside)


• Switch (Fakie) Riding

It was pretty cool stuff. It was encouraging to find that my ollies were actually better than I thought they were. I was able to jump 3 rows of cones and my instructor was finally relieved when I clipped one because I kept clearing everything he put in front of me.

Another part that was really encouraging was when I started to ride switch. I found that once I got over my fear of putting my weight on my right foot (normally the rear foot for me) I was able to link a few turns and swing my back foot round pretty well. I'm still not quite ambidextrous by any means but I'm a lot better than I was.

The flatland spins were a useful introduction to riding fakie. The deal is that as you go down the hill, you keep rotating the board in one direction. This means that for half of the spin your usual front foot is leading and then for the other half, you're leading with your weaker foot. The trick is really to shift your weight from one foot to the other when your board is across the slope.

After the lesson we had half an hour of practice time on the big slope. It's not HUGE but for an indoor venue it's pretty impressive. I did a few runs riding fakie and only fell once. (and I was actually watching someone else fall when it happened)

Today I'm feeling a bit worse for wear. This usually happens the first time you ride in a season. My back's pretty tight and my triceps are a wee bit achey too. I feel it in the back of my neck - possibly from trying to jump and spin. My bum muscles hurt when I walk as well.

All in all, though, it was a grand day out, and I would heartily recomment a spot of freestyle riding to anyone who's getting bored with simply carving down the hill.

While writing this entry, I found an amusing list of snowboarding terminology.

Esau living as Jacob

I've been thinking a lot recently about the two personalities of Isaac's sons - Esau and Jacob. I'm not going down the road of Esau despising his birthright or Jacob being a cheat. I'm thinking more of the notion of Esau being a wild man of the outdoors and Jacob preferring to spend his time around the tents. I feel as if I'm an Esau who has been raised as Jacob.

I became interested in computers in childhood when I didn't really get the chance to go "out" just for the sake of going out. I would go to friends' houses. Consequently we did Jacob-ish things like sit around computers for hours on end. Now, years later, I've developed a love for the outdoors that I really wonder what would have been different if I had found this sooner.

I have told friends before that I would love to go back in time to the day I decided computers were cool. I'd love to take that kid and say "Hey, here's a skateboard, a snowboard, a kite, a tent..."

I know God can still use what I've learned. I have skills that are useful. (Still don't know much about bo staff or numchucks, though.) I've realised, though, that my future is not yet written. I don't have to think down the narrow lines of computer programming forever and a day. I think there is a better way...

A week without Levi

It's been an interesting week or so. I had to send Levi (Ken's faithful lappy) back to Samsung to get a problem fixed. It's interesting how different my life has been without it.

I've been listening to teaching tapes from when Graham Cooke was at our church last year. I've also been worshipping, reading my bible and basically doing useful, productive things.

God's been showing me some cool stuff about myself and my future as well which is all pretty encouraging.