Sledding

(No, Grandma didn't go sledding, just to put such thoughts to rest right away.)

"November 1, 1991:  Snow and wind -- almost a blizzard.
November 2, 1991:  Streets blocked.
November 5, 1991:  Arlene P. took me quilting."

Grandma's mention of snow put me in mind of sledding down the hill in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house when I was a kid.  Grandpa had given me a big red sled one year.  It had handlebars instead of the usual steering method.  The back skids were set, but the skids were split front and back so that the front half would move with the handlebars.  Very cool.  And also very, very heavy.

It is a bit amazing to think that as kids we were well acquainted with the laws of physics.  Either some kid why back when learned it from a grown-up and passed the knowledge down through kid generations, or we learned by trial and error.  In any event, we knew to put the heavy sled at the back whenever we made a train of sleds.  (Dale was generally good at letting me tag along with he and his friends, but all notions of "she's too little" really went away when it came to sledding -- a kids' detente.)  As I recall we really scooted down that hill when Big Red was in the back.  And that hill was great for sledding because we had the turn at the bottom to negotiate.  That made it more interesting then just slowing to a halt on a straight shot.  We usually ended up in a snow bank if we missed the turn since the street stopped with nothing ahead at the turn, so extra snow was pushed in to that area at the very bottom of the hill.  Great fun.  And of course, we had to take the bank if we saw a car coming.  I seem to remember that after awhile we grew tired of hauling Big Red all the way back up, so it got put aside and my old regular sled got used for the latter part of our sledding day.

No sledding pictures and no picture of Big Red, but here's some snow.