Bestworst? vacation ever- words and Yamagata Zao pix (part 1)

It averaged below zero. Many times I looked at the thermometer and it read minus ten, often lower. When there was wind it was even colder. It was far away. There were many hours on buses and trains and planes. Nearly every night I slept on the floor; not much padding between me and the floor.

Miserable, right?

Now: same facts, different viewpoint.

It averaged below zero. Many times I looked at the thermometer and it read minus ten, often lower. When there was wind it was even colder. It was far away. There were many hours on buses and trains and planes. Nearly every night I slept on the floor; not much padding between me and the floor.

Fantastic, right?

Depends on your viewpoint.

(Day One. Yamagata Zao)

Here are the facts:
- I planned and budgeted for this trip. The logistics worked like clockwork. Like a wind-up bird chronicle.
- The unplanned things planned themselves, coincidentally at the right time.
- Eleven days in my snowboard boots; Rode at seven different resorts: groomed trail; backcountry and off-piste. Hit one tree. Had to dig myself out of knee-deep (occasionally thigh-deep) powder on numerous occasions
- Ate like a glutton, fasted like a monk
- Practiced “being” versus “doing” and observed my thoughts. Sometimes I got caught up in them. Other times I laughed at myself for thinking about them.
- Read Yukio Mishima’s “Spring Snow and half of Haruki Murakami’s “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.”

This is getting boring for me to write.
(Still at Yamagata-Zao)

I tried to describe to Wayne about the snow and all I could do was laugh. I tried to heed Hannah’s advice about dominating the slopes with rage and instead I flowed with the slopes while being aware. I am trying to write about this flawless trip, and, as usual, the words just write themselves while awkwardly getting in their own way.

(These are the "snow monsters" for which this resort is famous. They are trees covered by ice and snow, based on a wind that whips up over the neighboring peak. Juhyou, if you will.)

(A close-up of a snow monster, hard to tell with the white-out conditions that approached.)

(They fenced off the snow monsters to prevent them from attacking us!)