but I can work on my Elvis muscle in the car on the way there

Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in. - Ricky Fitts, in American Beauty

You know why I love cross-country skiing? Because the whole dang thing, every aspect of it, makes me feel like my heart is going to cave in; not just the part where I huck myself up that hill and my thighs are burning but also the part where the snow outlines every branch and twig on the dark frozen trees on either side of the path, with even the young trees creaking like old wood in the cold; the part where I get the mild taste of iron in the back of my throat that I get from exertion in cold weather; the part where every muscle in my body gets well-worked (except maybe my levator labii superioris alaeque nasi); the part where I tuck my poles under one arm on a long and gentle downhill where I'd normally double-pole like a demon, and take the free ride as a chance to stuff my face with salty crackers and old cheddar and almonds because I'm hungry but don't want to stop; and the part where I wipe cold clear snot from my nose on my sleeve and glove, repeatedly.

The only part I don't like and that doesn't feel beautiful is cold nipples. I have to invent a better winter bra.