Wow
Well, my waterbug post got some commentary. Not a lot, but enough to get the ball rolling. Annie wants me to discuss the necessity of water baptism. I told her she was plunging me a bit too deep on that one (pun intended). After she wrote, I did do some study on the subject, and I promise to post on that soon. Let's just say it is one of the most controversial subjects she could have suggested....but it is an important one, so I'll get something together.
Dwayne, the canoe guy, suggests I find a passion and/or discuss personal experiences with snow. I do have some passions and snow is one of them. Others include God, Rachmaninoff, tort reform and mashed potatoes. I'm not so sure I could sustain a running commentary on anything but God. Not that there aren't myriad things to be said about each of those topics, but I don't want to be known as the mashed potato blog...you know. I'm happy with my diversity, I'll just try to take it deeper.
So, I'll begin with snow stories. The snow was deep, but the story is not.
I spent a good part of my childhood in the north: Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. We always had some good snow up there, and snow was never a deterrent for outside play as it seems to be here in Oklahoma. We played outside all day in the snow, coming in only for tomato soup and hot chocolate. We kept busy cracking ice on the small streams that ran around our neighborhoods, building snow forts, following animal tracks, making snow soup, ice skating and trying to walk on top of the snow without breaking the crusty top and falling in (my personal favorite). As I recall, many friends had small ice skating rinks in their back yards. Before it froze, the rink bottom and sides were laid out (much like a kiddie pool) and it was filled with water. The whole thing was a couple inches deep. When it froze, we would just lace up our skates and go around all afternoon.
On fine day in Wisconsin I was invited to a friend's house for a real treat. My friend lived on a rolling farm far away from our school. After school I rode the bus home with her and we got to skate on her real frozen pond, which was just down the hill from her house. Her dad had set up cones designating how far out we could go. We skated for hours and then walked back up the hill for tomato soup and grilled cheese. Sadly, I don't remember the girl's name, but I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was fantastic.
I also remember going to the park to skate with my dad. Mom always bundled me up tight, with the stocking hat that went down past my waist and the big mittens. I also had a rabbit fur muff that I absolutely loved (and wish I still had). It was so warm and soft!! Anyway, dad and I would skate for hours outdoor among the trees. For breaks, we sat on wood benches that were set up around the pond and drank hot chocolate.
A few years ago I tried to recreate my ice skating memories by volunteering for a winter business trip to Lansing, Michigan. I had every intention of working until 5:00 each day and then finding a skating pond, but I never found a pond!! I drove around each night looking for one (and yes, I did use the phone book, too). I don't know if they no longer exist, or if they are just secreted away. I still hope to skate outdoors again one day (on a pond).
We have snow in Oklahoma City today. Nostalgia kicked in when I retreived Colin from kindergarten and we invited some classmates over for a snowball fight and a grilled cheese lunch. The boys had a blast and it was a great joy for me to see them out there all covered with snow. I hope their memories are as wonderful as mine.
Well, my waterbug post got some commentary. Not a lot, but enough to get the ball rolling. Annie wants me to discuss the necessity of water baptism. I told her she was plunging me a bit too deep on that one (pun intended). After she wrote, I did do some study on the subject, and I promise to post on that soon. Let's just say it is one of the most controversial subjects she could have suggested....but it is an important one, so I'll get something together.
Dwayne, the canoe guy, suggests I find a passion and/or discuss personal experiences with snow. I do have some passions and snow is one of them. Others include God, Rachmaninoff, tort reform and mashed potatoes. I'm not so sure I could sustain a running commentary on anything but God. Not that there aren't myriad things to be said about each of those topics, but I don't want to be known as the mashed potato blog...you know. I'm happy with my diversity, I'll just try to take it deeper.
So, I'll begin with snow stories. The snow was deep, but the story is not.
I spent a good part of my childhood in the north: Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. We always had some good snow up there, and snow was never a deterrent for outside play as it seems to be here in Oklahoma. We played outside all day in the snow, coming in only for tomato soup and hot chocolate. We kept busy cracking ice on the small streams that ran around our neighborhoods, building snow forts, following animal tracks, making snow soup, ice skating and trying to walk on top of the snow without breaking the crusty top and falling in (my personal favorite). As I recall, many friends had small ice skating rinks in their back yards. Before it froze, the rink bottom and sides were laid out (much like a kiddie pool) and it was filled with water. The whole thing was a couple inches deep. When it froze, we would just lace up our skates and go around all afternoon.
On fine day in Wisconsin I was invited to a friend's house for a real treat. My friend lived on a rolling farm far away from our school. After school I rode the bus home with her and we got to skate on her real frozen pond, which was just down the hill from her house. Her dad had set up cones designating how far out we could go. We skated for hours and then walked back up the hill for tomato soup and grilled cheese. Sadly, I don't remember the girl's name, but I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was fantastic.
I also remember going to the park to skate with my dad. Mom always bundled me up tight, with the stocking hat that went down past my waist and the big mittens. I also had a rabbit fur muff that I absolutely loved (and wish I still had). It was so warm and soft!! Anyway, dad and I would skate for hours outdoor among the trees. For breaks, we sat on wood benches that were set up around the pond and drank hot chocolate.
A few years ago I tried to recreate my ice skating memories by volunteering for a winter business trip to Lansing, Michigan. I had every intention of working until 5:00 each day and then finding a skating pond, but I never found a pond!! I drove around each night looking for one (and yes, I did use the phone book, too). I don't know if they no longer exist, or if they are just secreted away. I still hope to skate outdoors again one day (on a pond).
We have snow in Oklahoma City today. Nostalgia kicked in when I retreived Colin from kindergarten and we invited some classmates over for a snowball fight and a grilled cheese lunch. The boys had a blast and it was a great joy for me to see them out there all covered with snow. I hope their memories are as wonderful as mine.
posted by Jan at 2:53 PM
7 Comments:
This is what pierces me....You dont remember your friends name.
One day in the future Ill be reading your blogs and mention my name and there will be some vague recollection of the girl you once knew. Youll get together with all your friends and someone will say....Does anyone remember that girls name?
I dont care how many times people say how great it is to have lived in so many places. I am trying to focus on that but I cannot get past the fact that everyone has such strong long friendships and my name passes thru many lives but remains attached to very few in the long term. As another move draws closer I think of the names indelibly tattood on my heart and mind and ache at the thought of not having the opportunity to develop and strenthen those relationships.
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I'm sorry you couldn't find a place to skate in Lansing (I'm from Michigan, where its cold and snowy right now). The city I live in has an outdoor skating rink in the winter (its not a pond, but its enjoyable). It used to be free, with free skate rental, but now you have to pay to skate. Its a lot of fun!
Ruth-
Free skating AND free rentals? Wow! Do a lot of people skate there? Do most people still own their own skates in Michigan? Seems to me the children, at least, all owned a pair of skates in Wisconsin.
We have an outdoor skating rink in Oklahoma City during the month of December. Of course, it rarely snows here and the rink is not very large, so it just doesn't have the same feel as skating on a pond in the snow. I have to say, I'm a bit jealous of you, Ruth! Next time you go skating, go around once for me!
Mmmmm, tomato soup and grilled cheese. Mom used to cut up Velveeta in strips, put the cheese strips on buttered bread, then toast them in the toaster oven.
Snow (and snowflakes) are definitely one of Jan's passions. During our visit to her lovely home, Jan showed me and Dawn a couple of her books of snowflake photographs, and we saw a number of her snowflake decorations around the house.
As for Rachmaninoff, his Vespers (aka Easter Vigil) is one of my favorite pieces of choral music -- a capella, beautifully harmonized settings of ancient Russian Orthodox psalms and hymns. The third piece ("Blessed is the man") ends with alleluia and "Glory to thee, O God" repeated several times, with each repeat softer than the last. For some reason that ending always evokes a sleigh (a troika, actually) crossing a snow-covered meadow on a silent, moonlit night.
Very interesting to read about the homemade backyard skating rinks. How was the water contained before it froze? Were boards used for the bottoms and sides?
Michael,
I was young, so I didn't pay much attention to mechanics of the ice rinks, but I think they may have been made from plastic sheeting with a lip similar to a plastic hose. I remember them being shaped somewhat like a pond rather than a circle or oval. Perhaps one of my readers from the north is more familiar with this.
Steve said that they used to make ice skating rinks all the time in Michigan. He said they would take snow and make a border,then drag the hose over and put water in. He put in many hours of hockey playing time while he was growing up. The girls love to hear his "snow" stories. -SS
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