Monday, January 20, 2014

Snow and Sledding

We've seen a lot of snow and cold weather lately. Late tonight more snow is arriving.

But, I haven't seen much sledding.

When I was young, sledding was a popular past-time for all the kids in our neighborhood. It was also a popular past-time for my kids when they were growing up.

You know the routine - begging to go outside and  putting on layers and layers of warm clothes and boots to keep you warm.

Once kids were outside, they did not want to come back inside. But when they did . . .

You know the routine - standing on the porch brushing off the snow with a broom, coming in and peeling off layer upon layer of warms clothes, boots, gloves and scarves and piling them up on the floor, running to the closest warm air supply in the house and then going to the kitchen to drink hot chocolate.

Those were the good old days when kids were not inside attached to electronic devises playing games.

I wish I had pictures to post of when we played outside in the snow. We sledded on the common wooden sleds, large pieces of cardboard and even hoods from old cars. The latter was suitable for many kids to ride at the same time - the older ones sat on the outside edge so they could guide with their legs and feet if need be.

We built bonfires out of anything burnable to keep us warm.

We rode down hillsides (which there are plenty of in West Virginia). All the neighborhood kids gathered at the best places for riding. We had a person on watch at the bottom of a hill where we met up with the road. If the coast was clear, we continued on to the road to see how far the sled would glide before coming to a stop. The only problem was, the longer the ride, the longer the walk back to begin again.

Our kids made igloos and snowmen. When they were little, they even slid down small mounds of snow in our yard, sitting in their small plastic bathtub they bathed in as a baby. They also slid on inner-tubes - large and small. They flew down the steep hills, hitting bumps and soaring through the air.





1983 - two oldest sons sledding in their baby bathtub down a small man-made hill in the front yard. 
My dad watching on.




1990's

I can still hear their shrieks of laughter and see their red cheeks.

Do you have any snow remembrances to share?

Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.





10 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of you when I saw the weather for your state. What wonderful, motherly memories of your boys. We don't usually get enough snow at one time to make snowmen or ride on sleds; however, there is a picture of my cousin with a snowman we built when we were in our early teens, so I guess it happened, many years ago.

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    1. Hi lil red hen, so glad you and your cousin got to enjoy building a snowman.

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  2. Sledding requires that kids put down their smart phones. Most won't do it.

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    1. Isn't that a shame. They don't know what they are missing.

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  3. Your pictures took me back to those days, too. We would take the kids to the park to sled and then end up at White Castle for burgers and fries and hot chocolate. I built igloos for my kids and they still talk about their forts. It is snowing and whipping now. Winter, not so much fun anymore for me. Bring on spring.

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    1. Hi Linda. I think I am ready for spring, too. It is snowing here now. We lived in the country, so there was no going to White Castle or anyplace such as that. Our moms provided the hot chocolate :o)

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  4. Fun times for sure! I grew up in Southern California, so going up to the mountains when we got snow was a big deal. I remember going up with only a pair of rubber rain boots. Living so close to the beach, we rarely had use for snow boots, so that was all I had. My feet got so cold that I had to spend most of the time in the car with the heater on them. Not a fun trip. Now that I live in Montana, I have plenty of GOOD snow experiences, including snow shoeing. I love doing that because unlike skiing, I can take photographs while I'm walking. :)

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    1. Sounds like fun, Rena. Bet you have plenty of snow boots now.

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  6. Hi Janet -- Your descriptions of your layered children sound so similar to what mine did when they went sledding. So much fun for them. When I was a teenager we would get up a load of friends and take a toboggan or two to a hill with special runs for tobogganing. Loved to toboggan! We could fit three or four of us on one which built up our speed down the run. -- barbara

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