Slipping and Sliding on the Ice

This winter, the weather has been very unpredictable, especially since we haven’t been watching the weather forecast. On January 18^th-19^th we got a very wet snowstorm. About four inches stuck to the ground until the sun came up. Falling snow turned to rain, and small rivers began to flow around our home. When I plowed the driveway, an avalanche of slush and water accumulated in front of the plow. When the gush of slush hit the bottom of the driveway, our dirt road turned into a rolling river.

A few of our neighbors were partially flooded and some damage occurred (not by our gush of slush though). During the next week, we received a combination of rain, slush, and snow. Cold temperatures froze the standing slush and a sheet of ice covered the fields.

One morning we woke up to find that our whole back yard had been transformed into a giant ice rink. As the day progressed, the warm sunshine caused the entire surface to become slick and glossy. Our backyard has various inclines and contours, some steep slopes and others more flat. It was all glazed in ice. It was exciting when we tried to ice skate and amuse ourselves on this wonderful nature-formed-play-land.

Marianne came out to join the fun. She figured mittens, boots, and a smile would cover everything. The coat and hat just got in the way.

It doesn’t take children long to become very creative and resourceful. They went and retrieved Joseph and Marianne’s little play cars. Some would have races down the icy hills. Sliding and spinning out of control wasn’t always accidental, but sometimes little crashes would occur. Most of the time they were able to ride it out to the bottom.

Others would attempt to slide on their feet to see how far they could go. It was so slick that sometimes it was nearly impossible to stand. Even walking was a challenge. The careful ones avoided falling by sitting down and sliding away. I guess they preferred just sitting on their fanny, gluteus maximus, haunches, hindquarters, rump, or whatever you call it! They definitely didn’t want to bruise it! A wonderful, beautiful day for children to play!