Listening to the Woods on a Snowy Afternoon

“I’m not much good at it, but I love it anyway,” she said to me, as we rested on either side of the trail. Her skis were side-by-sidein a set of parallel tracks; mine were lined up the same way, but pointing in the opposite direction. We had both stopped to peel off outer layers and lean heavily on our ski poles, our breath billowinginto the coldair.

She was an older woman. Her jacketwasn’t the latest fashion; her gear wasn’t high-tech. She wore rented skis and boots like me. But it was writ...