It is the first cold week of the season. The kind of weather that gives me perma-chill feet. Damn bad circulation. Bless the inventor of the electric blanket/bed pad. Fleece and smart wool socks. Hot hands. Heated tile floors.
When I was a kid, I must have had excellent circulation. I remember many hours spent out in the snow and cold - with inferior snowy/cold weather products! We had rubber snow boots that our shoes fit inside. They were very hard to get on, and then you had to fold the rubber top over and slip the little button into the rubber band holder. Our mittens were wool, and got soggy.
We had 3 sleds with metal runners. Flexible Flyer. You could lay on your stomach and steer with your hands - sometimes we even went double decker, stacking on top of each other. Or you could sit up and steer with your feet or with the rope attached to the front/steering apparatus.
We also had a long aluminum toboggan with a green pad on top (otherwise you'd bruise your buns). We'd pile people on that baby too! The only way to steer it was to lean. Not easily done.
There were a number of good sledding hills in Atown. First of all, before we built the deck on our house, the hill out back was a pretty good one! A few times we even slid down it on cardboard when we were little. Steep! But when sledding you had to watch out for the row of bushes along the right side. They were not fun to run into!
The hill by Washington Elementary (that I had to walk across in a skirt to get to the high school, before I got wheels) was awesome! It was a big kid hill, with Buck Creek at the bottom so you had put the brakes on before that. I also had to watch out for Rick (hmmm blanking on the last name) who asked me to go sledding when I was a freshman. He had some other warm up activities in mind. Scary, exciting stuff for a naive frosh. Good thing I had all those layers on!
The Country Club was also the scene of some great sledding parties. We would toss the sleds and saucers (you COULD lose your virginity on those metal saucers and a good snow bump I swear...). Kids would build a "jump" to go over. Each year we hear of sledding tragedies - I'm not always sure how I survived!
Sledding was something Paul and I were able to share with our children when they were growing up. We lived by "Bus Barn Hill" when they were small. Their sleds were a little safer than ours - the saucer was plastic. We had some blow up inner tube type sleds - softer and more fun than metal. Moki the wonder dog liked to run along side and nip at sleds-he popped a couple. Oh well, they were fun while they lasted.
Now that I'm a big girl, snow isn't usually something fun to play in. It's something I dread driving in! And my feet are chilly as I write. Here's to a safe commuting winter, but some beautiful weekend snowfalls. And good snow in the mountains (not on I-70)for Amy and Cindo!
When I was a kid, I must have had excellent circulation. I remember many hours spent out in the snow and cold - with inferior snowy/cold weather products! We had rubber snow boots that our shoes fit inside. They were very hard to get on, and then you had to fold the rubber top over and slip the little button into the rubber band holder. Our mittens were wool, and got soggy.
We had 3 sleds with metal runners. Flexible Flyer. You could lay on your stomach and steer with your hands - sometimes we even went double decker, stacking on top of each other. Or you could sit up and steer with your feet or with the rope attached to the front/steering apparatus.
We also had a long aluminum toboggan with a green pad on top (otherwise you'd bruise your buns). We'd pile people on that baby too! The only way to steer it was to lean. Not easily done.
There were a number of good sledding hills in Atown. First of all, before we built the deck on our house, the hill out back was a pretty good one! A few times we even slid down it on cardboard when we were little. Steep! But when sledding you had to watch out for the row of bushes along the right side. They were not fun to run into!
The hill by Washington Elementary (that I had to walk across in a skirt to get to the high school, before I got wheels) was awesome! It was a big kid hill, with Buck Creek at the bottom so you had put the brakes on before that. I also had to watch out for Rick (hmmm blanking on the last name) who asked me to go sledding when I was a freshman. He had some other warm up activities in mind. Scary, exciting stuff for a naive frosh. Good thing I had all those layers on!
The Country Club was also the scene of some great sledding parties. We would toss the sleds and saucers (you COULD lose your virginity on those metal saucers and a good snow bump I swear...). Kids would build a "jump" to go over. Each year we hear of sledding tragedies - I'm not always sure how I survived!
Sledding was something Paul and I were able to share with our children when they were growing up. We lived by "Bus Barn Hill" when they were small. Their sleds were a little safer than ours - the saucer was plastic. We had some blow up inner tube type sleds - softer and more fun than metal. Moki the wonder dog liked to run along side and nip at sleds-he popped a couple. Oh well, they were fun while they lasted.
Now that I'm a big girl, snow isn't usually something fun to play in. It's something I dread driving in! And my feet are chilly as I write. Here's to a safe commuting winter, but some beautiful weekend snowfalls. And good snow in the mountains (not on I-70)for Amy and Cindo!
No comments:
Post a Comment