Vail, Colorado

"Mr and Mrs Ewing?" looking up as he heard their names being called, JR let out a sigh of relief as he matched the voice with the late-30s woman standing over by the door. He had tipped the hotel concierge a lot of money to ensure that he and Sue Ellen were paired with a female ski instructor during all of their lessons and he was happy to see his payoff hadn't gone to waste. He wasn't so insecure that he thought a male instructor was really a big deal, however, he wasn't interested in having to deal with any possible feelings of inadequacy or jealousy if the instructor turned out to be a young, attractive man, and he didn't want to deal with Sue Ellen's mood if he had to deal with that man. In his opinion, instead of allowing things to just happen and having to deal with completely preventable consequences as they occurred, it was better to mitigate and control the situation before it even had a chance of turning into a problem.

Squeezing JR's hand and standing to walk over to their ski instructor, Sue Ellen felt both ill with nerves and giddy with excitement. She had wanted to come skiing and thus far, she was enjoying Vail for everything it visually and culturally was, but she couldn't pretend she wasn't nervous about moving from spectator to participant. She had never skied before and while she was excited to learn how to, she had also read more than one accident horror story and couldn't get the mental image of broken bones and possible death related to an avalanche out of her mind. As JR had told her earlier though, it was highly unlikely that they would be doing anything adventurous enough today to actually warrant any of her worrying. In all honesty, she was a beginner, she was going to fall down more than a few times while learning, then she would get comfortable enough to move a few feet, then a little more, and soon enough she would be able to ski down the beginner slopes. What would be unlikely to happen though was anything more than that; she would go at a reasonable speed and possibly, if she didn't stop correctly, fall on her arm or twist her leg in a bad position, but most likely her body would be just fine, and she wouldn't be anywhere near active enough to cause an avalanche. As Doctor Williams always said too, worrying about the future was futile, she couldn't control much more than her own actions, and even in that case she didn't need to allow her fear to control her. She and JR were in Vail to ski and have fun, and that was what they would do, whether she looked foolish or amateurish or not. Vulnerability wasn't something to be ashamed of, not when no one was expecting her to be perfect, and certainly not when the only people around to witness her vulnerability were her husband and a professional instructor, two people who were there to support her, not tear her down.

"Mr Ewing, please, keep your skis across the hill for now, we don't want you sliding down before you're ready", staying calm as she spoke, Anna, the ski instructor, mentally shook her head. Mrs Ewing was a very cautious woman and had been following the directions almost too rigidly, but Mr Ewing had the opposite problem, he held a higher opinion of his level of ability than what she was seeing reflected in his physical actions. "Mrs Ewing, good, I think you've got the hang of coming to a stop, now let's try moving again and slowing but not completely stopping. So, body straight, legs forward, skis positioned down the slope and then allow yourself to slowly glide down; not too fast though, if you feel yourself picking up too much speed, turn your skis to form a v". Giving Mrs Ewing her directions, she watched as she did as instructed, making it halfway down the very small slope before losing her balance as she attempted to slow, ending up on her backside, uninjured physically, but a little embarrassed. Shouting a few words of encouragement and confirming that Mrs Ewing was ok and was returning to them, she then turned her attention back to Mr Ewing. "You've skied before, so you have the basics, stop, go, slow, but I don't want to send you down that slope until I'm confident you're able to think fast and swerve around other people. I imagine you'll want to be going at some speed once we make our way over to the slope so I need you more than your wife to be able to be responsible and aware of other people enjoying the mountain too. With that in mind, let's work on turning and slowing, and I want you to try to widen your view too; don't just look at what's directly in front of you, the mountain is like a road, you need to be aware of the hazards around you so you can ensure you arrive safely at your destination". Receiving a nod and what she was sure was probably an eye roll behind his reflective goggles, she then instructed him to practice zigzagging down the very small slope.

"Damn woman", reaching the bottom of the tiny hill Anna had insisted they start their lesson on, JR grumbled to himself as he came to a smooth stop, turned and then began his slow ascent back up to his wife and the know-it-all he had stupidly requested an afternoon with. She was right, he did have prior experience and understand the basics they were practicing for Sue Ellen's benefit, and he did want to go fast, but he did not appreciate her comment about his supposed lack of hazard awareness. He wasn't an idiot and he wasn't blind, he knew to swerve away from trees and other skiers instead of staying on a straight path and ploughing straight into someone; he didn't need a 'professional' to tell him what to do. Reaching the top of the small hill and seeing how happy and confident Sue Ellen was though, all thanks to Anna's encouragement and coddling, he swallowed his annoyance at her condescending attitude toward him and tried to genuinely listen as she commented on his performance. He'd paid the hotel concierge handsomely for the exclusive use of Anna's services during their vacation, however, he was now reconsidering that decision; as he saw it though, his payoff wasn't a wasted investment, because he had paid for a say in the scheduling of the resort's ski instructors and that meant he could change that schedule as he wished. Anna would be booked solid tomorrow, but they wouldn't be on her appointment list, he would make sure of it.

To be continued…