Ski or Snowboard???

Today we got up early, dug out our ancient mismatched ski clothes, packed some sandwiches and headed for the mountains to ski. Not Mammoth or Lake Tahoe. Mount Baldy, 52 miles from Los Angeles. We drove through downtown and it started to rain. We drove out the 10 and it started to rain harder. We turned off the 210 and up into the mountain. There wasn't a snowy peak in sight. But the temperature started dropping--45, 44, 42, 39 (we all cheered!) 36. When the car thermometer hit 35 we all cheered and a little orange snowflake appeared on the dashboard. Just then the snow started falling. Big, wet flakes floated down and the boys started screaming for joy. They had never seen falling snow. They were just grinning and laughing. We drove and there was more snow. Then signs told us to put chains on (we had none). We got to Mt. Baldy, a tiny little old-time place, bought our tickets and rode 15 minutes up the lift to the top. It was like a blizzard--the trees were coated in white snow and icicles and bent with the wind. We walked into a hut to rent skis and a nice man said, "Do you have chains?" We said no and he said, well then, don't stay long or you won't get down the mountain. We said maybe noon? He said, "I would leave before that. Last week there was a 25 car pile-up. I did three 360s in my car, then slid a mile down the mountain." Plus, he said, when it is snowing this hard your children will be traumatized and won't want to ski again for years.
So we suited up the boys in boots. We asked Theo if he wanted to ski or snowboard and all the young dudes behind the counter yelled, "Snowboard, snowboard." So we put them both in the moonboots. Theo was goofy foot, just like mama. I took him out, and we never even got on a chairlift. He just hobbled up a little hill. After one time he asked to be strapped in, and on the second time he snowboarded down.
It was like watching him snowboard into adolescence. He took to it completely naturally. He moved like a little snow dude. He got it intuitively.
It was only 20 feet of snow outside the lodge. We had to boogie so we wouldn't get trapped on the mountain. We gulped down our hot chocolate, climbed back on the ski lift and rode back through the cloud down the mountain, hail bouncing off our coats and burning our faces.
As we rode down Theo said to me, "Mama, this is the most amazing day of my life. We saw snow falling, we rode a ski lift and I learned to snowboard. I can't believe it!"
The ski concessionaire completely refunded our tickets because of the snow situation, and told us to come back, which we most definitely will! We made it down the mountain with only a few slips on the hairpin turns and the boys slept all the way home.
Jonathan said when he saw Theo strap himself into the snowboard he knew that his dream of skiiing with him was a lost cause.
"He is just a different generation," he said. " I felt it in that moment. He isn't going to ski. He's a snowboarder."