Structure vs Freedom

Have not been cross country skiing in over 10 years. And likely the
last time was when it actually snowed in Hillsboro and they hadn't
plowed the streets yet. And my house wasn't for sale so I could live
with wild abandon and, actually find things.

Alas here I am in the wilds of Washington State where I am expected to
do such things. Ok. My boots are so old that they were made, not in
the Czech Republic, but in actual Czechoslovakia. Before the fall of
the Berlin Wall. Before the end of Communism.

They have held up well. Good since they almost never get used. But
there was a time when cross country meant this type of boots, the
little 3-pin clamp that strapped them to your ski.

My Siberian umbrella has finally, after more than a decade of
industrial wear on the streets of Salem, found it's way to a nether
corner of the kitchen. It lost its strap, and handle too.

Others in my ski party seemed to have a mind-boggling array of
choices: shall I skate ski or classic ski today?? Yikes, almost as
trying as Starbucks.

Glad I always get the same thing there. For some things I am fine
with my static choices.

Then I was told to 'stay in the tracks it is faster'. Which is great
if you want to be going fast. But if I go fast I would miss the
secret view of the creek. Or the animal tracks. Or the old barbed
fence now overgrown. Or the incredible contrast between the blankets
of white snow and the dark logs covered with shelf fungus.

For some things I actually don't want structure. Back in New England
there weren't groomed trails. You just went out to the county park
and made your own trail. Each one was unique. Each view was
different.

I wonder what they serve at the Starbucks in the Czech Republic? I
hope to find out some day.