The United States of an African

As you may know, I live in Michigan. If you didn’t know, the winters up here are tundra like. Now, I am the type of person that loves the outdoors. I love the fresh air. I love the physicality of just being outside. I believe I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, but winter is a hard month for me. I am somewhat forced to stay inside for majority of the season. It sucks! But I need to adapt. So I am finding ways to enjoy the outdoors without freezing my backside off. Snowboarding! Last time I went snowboarding was with my family in North Carolina (see pic above). Man oh man! That was a lot of fun! It was on an actual mountain too. Shade, Shots, Burn at Michigan! While my brother decided to be all fancy, and went snowboarding in Colorado (yes I’m jealous), I decided to stay local and try out one of the close by ski resorts in Michigan.

Michigan isn’t known for mountains, but they do have decent hills for a good ski and snowboard trip. The best places to get some good altitude would be up north or the upper peninsula. I certainly hope to make it up there this winter; depending on the way my account is set up. But thankfully, there are a few resorts in the south east region of Michigan. This day, I went to Alpine Valley Ski Resorts in White Lake which is about 50 minutes from Detroit.

We got there as soon as the resort opened at 9am in order to avoid the crowds (hello social distancing) and long lines. Me not being an avid snowboarder rented my gear; boots, snowboard, and helmet. Thank God I got the helmet!! It had been so long since I went snowboarding I didn’t even know how to attach my boot to the snowboard. I felt like a complete dunce in front of my boyfriend, an experienced snowboarder. He owns his own gear. Already failing at being a badass, I humbled myself and decided to try out the bunny hill before hitting the more advanced slopes. So glad I did! I wiped out almost immediately as I attempted to descend the hill. In one brilliant motion, I landed hard on my tailbone before my head made contact with the ground. Thank God I got the helmet!! It took me about 15 minutes on the bunny hill before I convinced myself that I was ready for the big girl slopes! Plus I didn’t want to deprive my partner of having fun. He was absolutely patient and encouraging the entire time.

Getting up the main slopes was at first intimidating but I wasn’t going to waste my day in fear. I went for it. I fell many times. I sat down a lot trying to catch my breath…and also figuring out how to re-attach my boot to the snowboard. I found solace in the fact that I wasn’t the only adult wiggling in imbalance and falling over every few seconds. But overall it was an amazing day. I finally kind of, sort of, got the hang of not falling and actually making my way down the slope. I was like a baby learning how to walk. You know that excitement and joy they have when they waddle around and fall? That was me with my snowboarding partner cheering me on. You can check out my Instagram reel here for the video.

Alright, let’s get into the life lesson I’ve learned thus far. I know I haven’t blogged in a minute. I was trying to adjust to 2021 and recalibrate myself. I’m still struggling with finding a regular job. I’ve been on a few interviews where I killed it. But the position would always go to someone who had more experience than me. I’m currently in the middle of interviewing with a new company. Pray for me y’all! I’m also having surgery in a couple weeks. I’ll discuss this in a later post. So life’s been a bit stressful.

I’m really trying to manage my mental health as I navigate living life during this pandemic. And one of the ways to manage my health is by being active, going outdoors and spending time (physical and virtual) with people I love. I’m grateful to have had the privilege of going snowboarding. To be honest, through everything, my God has been so good to me. Yes I’m unemployed, yes I’m going through a health scare, but somehow God has been providing me with joy, experiences, finances etc. Even when my faith is weak, He finds a way to revive my weary heart. And so with what I learned from snowboarding, I get knocked down, but I get up again. Insert Tubthumping by Chumbawamba. I at least owe God the will to keep trying and never give up. He never gives up on me.

One more thing, please keep wearing your mask!!! Thanks, management.