When we first moved to Nederland ten years ago, we did so to live in the mountains. We didn’t know much about this town of 1,500, other than it lay on the doorstep of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. But we soon came to find out that throughout Colorado, Nederland had quite a reputation for a winter festival it hosted.
“Oh, you live in Nederland! Isn’t that where that Frozen Dead Guy festival is?”
Nederland, Colorado – home to the original Frozen Dead Guy Days. Like others, we were curious. So one snowy Sunday, we ventured into town to watch the festivities. The one that caught our eye — the Coffin Races.
Sitting on the hillside, we watched teams of people slip and slide their way over humps of snow, all while carrying an open-topped coffin with a person inside. The teams clad in crazy costumes — the Muppet team, the pink socks team — came lumbering across the finish line as people hurled snowballs at them. Who would ever want to humiliate themselves that way?
Fast forward ten years, when last week I received an email from my friend, Rae. “We’re putting together a team to compete in the coffin races — are you interested?” Part of me instantly thought, I am too old for such lunacy. But the other part thought, when will I ever have this chance again? Who gets to etch part of the legacy as “I carried a coffin around a snowy obstacle course to celebrate a man who is cryogenically frozen in a Tuff Shed!”
What a great blog post this will make!
Now the texts are flying — pictures of the wooden coffin, ideas for costumes. When can we all get together and practice? Everyone seems to be embracing the adventure. Everyone, except me, because I’m still thinking, how can I get out of this.
What have I gotten myself into?
I don’t know whether to share this with friends to ask them to support us. Perhaps I should keep my participation as a secret, so no one I know will see how much I will embarrass myself.
Is it too late to get out of this debacle? I hope I don’t do bodily injury to myself. Will I survive?
More to be revealed on Saturday.
