An Idiot's Guide to Snow

It has been snowing here...a lot of snow...too much snow. So, what do people do when there is snow? They go skiing and snow boarding and sledding! So, with some friends (Doug, Adam, Katie R. and Caitlin) we did something daring. We took a sled with a long string attached to steer with and we went sliding down the hill by Bishop Walker’s house. It was fun taking turns sliding on our stomachs and just sitting in the sled. It was cold but we didn’t mind. Then someone...I think it was Doug...had the idea of STANDING on the sled and seeing who could get the farthest down the hill.

Doug did a pretty good job. He got pretty far before he took a dive. Caitlin did ok, too. Adam lost the sled before he got on and then he chased it all the way down the hill. By the time he brought it up, he was too tired to go again, so it was my turn. I stood on the sled, went about two feet and then jumped off because I was scared. So I pulled the sled up and tried again.

Caitlin held the sled still until I was on correctly and then she let go. It took just a couple of seconds and I was going pretty fast. Then I started to freak out...I was going really fast, standing on a sled, and I don’t even like to slide in my socks on the linoleum floor. By this time I was going REALLY fast...and the sled hit a weed sticking up from the ground. I went flying...landed first on my hand, and then on my head. Snow flew up into the air from my feet and I landed on my back in the snow. I was only wearing a sweatshirt instead of a coat, so the snow went up my back and down my pants. It was really cold. I lay there for a moment to decide if I was still alive–“Sanka, ya dead?” “Yeah, mon.” (Cool Runnings) When I determined that I was in fact still living...and by some miracle still holding the string of the sled, I got up and took the sled back up for someone else to try.

Let me just say that there are things that old ladies like me shouldn’t do...one of them is trying to stand up on a sled as it careens down a steep slope.

Today I am covered in bruises...but I feel a little braver!