All By Myself.....

I spend most days on my own writing and generally muddling around, so I'm used to my own company and don't mind the quiet one bit. (Who am I kidding? I do a dressing-gowned happy dance on the days when the large boy can take the small boy to school in the morning.)
Here on the ski slopes however, it's a bit different. Galling, is a word that springs to mind. Having two large, sporty teens, I'm used to being out-stripped when it comes to skiing, but now the 9 year old is doing black mogul runs, and dropping into bowls. (A bowl is "inverted" apparently, so that it's not even like skiing straight down a wall; the side of the drop-in actually goes back in on itself so you don't hit the ground for about ten feet after you take off. I know!)
Now, I blame a dodgy knee for not being able to do moguls - which are ski runs with lots of bumps, for the non-skiers out there. I have chondro-malatia in the right knee, which is basically crumbling stuff behind the knee cap. When I bend, going up or down stairs for example, there's no guarantee that the knee will get me back up to standing. When you ski down a hill full of moguls, this is basically happening every five seconds, and it's quite painful too.
The nine year old is being very considerate of my plight, but it's very tempting to smack him upside the head when he lovingly says "Don't worry mom, I'll ski the hard stuff with dad this morning and then I'll come out with you this afternoon. I'll need to take it easy then anyway". The teens have taken to poking him in the ribs, but he's not one for getting silent warning messages.
But he's right, - skiing with me is not what it used to be. And I'm certainly not joining him on slopes like this:-
By the way, this is very steep and very bumpy. Sigh.