Week 1 – My Sabbatical began with the reward and exercise portion, and we traveled Sunday January 29th via American Airlines to Durango, Colorado. Lori took her weeks’ vacation and spent the first week of my Sabbatical with me and my next to the oldest brother Marvin, skiing at Purgatory Mountain.
We started by having a great meal at Pappadeaux’s at the DFW airport, one of our favorite restaurants. We arrived at 4:00 and Marvin picked us up at the airport and we settled in to our home for the week. This place is special to me for several reasons. 1) God’s creativity is so evident in the mountains and it is very spiritual 2) I love to ski 3) we spent very special time with Mom here.
The 2010 Sabbatical plans had to be changed, as I planned to spend the 1st week hanging out with Mom and Dad in Lubbock. One month before the Sabbatical, Dad died unexpectedly. Lori and I had planned to spend a week in Durango alone together but decided to invite Mom and Marvin. We had a great time but it was evident Mom was missing her man. We returned the same time the following year and invited Mom and Marvin again and spent some great quality time together and Mom died unexpectedly 5 weeks later. This place is special.
Pleasant memories this week of a train ride we took in 2010 between Durango and Silverton that brought back so many memories of my Mom’s childhood that she shared with us. As I sat at Purgy’s at the base of the mountain on Tuesday, a memory flooded over me as I looked at the spot of one of my favorite pictures of Mom that highlighted her humor and spirit. She grabbed a snowboard from the rack and had us take a picture of her after “her day of shredding the mountain”!
We had dinner Tuesday with Lori’s cousin David and his wife Kathy at Kennebec, a very nice restaurant just outside Durango. Kathy joined us skiing on Wednesday.
Lori only skied one day and I was concerned she might not be enjoying the trip as much as Marvin and me, but she made it clear that she was enjoying not having any responsibility. To quote Kid Rock – “she was chillin’ the most”! I skied 5 out of 5 days from the time the lift opened until they kicked my off the mountain and my legs and lungs should be in good shape!
Honestly, taking the reward portion first is a bit awkward because it really hasn’t sunk in that I’m on Sabbatical. Let’s see what happens today as I would normally be at work. I’m grateful for the time we had in Colorado and I’m looking forward to what God has planned for me over the next few weeks.
