Kramming it in

I can’t remember when it started, but for years now my three siblings and I have lovingly called our father Kram (Mark backward). Before that, it was “The Rev” – poking fun at his abbreviated job title (reverend) in the White Pages.Anyway, Kram, the 53-year-old Lutheran reverend from Boulder County, loves to snowboard. He took it up after some convincing from us kids 10 years ago and hasn’t been back on skis since. Kram especially loves the fact that I’ve lived in resort towns the past three winters, first Vail and now Aspen.Back in December, he was looking forward to two or three trips to Aspen this season to crash on my futon and get in some turns with me. Then he partially tore his meniscus on Christmas Day while playing basketball in the driveway with me and my two brothers. I have to take some of the blame. It was my knee that crashed into his. Then again, if it wasn’t 60 degrees and sunny on friggin’ Christmas, we would have been inside drinking eggnog instead of playing a heated game of two-on-two.Anyway, after sulking through nearly all of the season, Kram finally got the go-ahead from the doctor last month that he could go snowboarding again. He called me afterward to ask if he could come visit sometime in early April. I could sense his anticipation on the other end of the phone. After spending months of off days doing lame things like helping my mom redecorate, Kram was itching to hit the road for some unfiltered guy time.Needless to say, Kram didn’t care about the slushy spring snow at Snowmass on Tuesday or Wednesday, nor the rain that fell on us as we rode up the lift on Wednesday morning. He even laughed about the weird look the lady at Snowmass gave him on Tuesday when he went to get his picture snapped for his four-day pass.”I just told her better late than never,” Kram told me afterward. That’s some good fatherly advice for this time of year.