Outdoor Diva Jane McKinnis
Hats, gloves, goggles, skis, boots, poles, pass, lunch, money; families have their mantras. This is ours. It is not the list that really matters. It is the ritual of preparedness. "I am fifty four years old, grandma moved to Idaho in 1960, I have been pushin' it hard in the mountains for forty years. I was around to see the advent of Gortex and Velcro." Her memories before technological upgrades remind me that with or without gear, recreation is just a way of life. It is simple. For my mother time is not a balance of play and work. Play is the only way to get through work, and work is just a means to support the play. Her life is not glamorous. These are her concerns: a hot meal for her kids before school, enough money for a seasons pass, sturdy leather gloves to grip the axe handle, firewood for winter, duct tape to patch the down jacket she has owned since high school.
Recreation is not a trend, not a newfound resolution to fitness, for her playing outside is a reverent act that sustains life. People who experience the power of reverence just don't stop one day because the wind and snow are blinding, they put on a few more layers, head out, and play.
To some the possession of the perfect tool may be an obsession to own new things. For my mother the things she owns are testament to the landscape of her spirituality. Every layer of clothes a ticket to another hour of serenity. "I got my pass and I got my firewood. I know when I am going to work and I know when I am going to ski. That is all I know."
Nominated By Elizabeth Majors
