Saturday, November 11, 2006

You know you're old when ...

Remember standing at the top of a snowy hill as a kid? Picking just the right place to launch your sled, waiting for the path to clear, feeling that rush of adrenaline just before pushing off. Eyelashes frozen together, snow down your pants, and the knowledge that you had absolutely no control over where you were going made it one of the most exhilarating experiences of your young life. I remember the feeling all too well, as my antics today can attest too.

It really wasn't all my fault. My husband seemed to remember it the same way I did. And with three young boys clearly thrilled at the prospect of going sledding on a REAL hill and not just the snow pile in the front yard, my fate was sealed.

It's called Suicide Hill. But we looked out at the people on the hill and thought it was looked appropriate for our family. The first few runs were quite tame, in fact. Besides the fact I had to pull a three-year-old on a sled up the hill, it was just perfect. The two older boys were enjoying themselves on their GT Snowracers and Titus was having a blast going down first with me, then with Luke, and then by himself. Then Caleb decided to switch things up and took one of the plastic sleds Titus had been using. Our runs were shifting slightly left of where we had been and we were finding ourselves in teenager territory. And then Luke saw The Run.

Caleb didn't need much encouragement. Taking one of the plastic sleds he ran the gauntlet of four jumps with only minimal difficulty. Ethan needed a bit more prodding but he made it down- if not stylishly, then at least in one piece. Luke was next in line, since Titus and I were prudently sledding down beside The Run but not on it. Taking one of the GTs, he placed his feet on the skids and crouched over it, standing but with his hands on the steering wheel. After the first jump he made the realization that he was going too fast and bailed. It was quite a sight - the Abominable Snowman slowly got up as the snow settled around him. I might have even giggled a little.

After that it was all about The Run. Different strategy, point of entry, and technique came into play. I watched many a person attempt The Run with varying results of success and failure. Finally, the sledding time was coming to a close. We sent Titus down the hill on the GT by himself for the first time and watched as he barely missed the jumps and came this close to running into a crowd of kids gathered at the bottom. Realizing he wouldn't be able to climb the hill with the GT himself I looked around and saw the second GT just waiting for me. I walked towards it and saw that my dear hubby had the same idea.

"You get on the front and steer, I'll climb on behind you," he said.
"Are you sure? It looks, well, I just don't want to get hurt," I replied.
"We're not going to go over any jumps, we're not even that close to The Run. Don't wuss out on me," he countered.
"Well, OK."

It went great. We flew by the jumps on The Run but didn't hit any and I was starting to think we were home free until..

"Oh, no!" I screamed. "Watch out!"

Luke jumped off just before we hit it, but managed a spectacular wipe out nonetheless. I was not quite as quick and as I soared through the air I remember thinking "I knew this wasn't a good idea!" Then I hit snow and tumbled head over heels for an impressive distance before sliding to a very cold and wet stop face down beside the GT.

I am now at home, sitting on my couch and nursing a swollen knee. My husband is beside me with a tailbone so sore that sitting isn't necessarily an option. The moral of this little story? Remembering sledding is one thing, reliving it is another.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Willms - How's the knee and tail bone? :)

Carmen I'm so thrilled that you've started blogging - while I may not be the 'I wish you'd email me back' relative, I love hearing the stories of your lives.
Say Hi to the boys and Luke for me.
Amy

Anonymous said...

Carmen
Sounds like fun to me, I have to confess that we are a little jelous of all your snow and hope that some will still be there to enjoy when we come home at Christmas. Micah keeps asking us to go visit Caleb & Ethan so I'm sure he will be excited.
Faith

{ as we know it } said...

Hey Carmen! I LOVED the retelling of your adventure ... you're quite a storey teller! I was captivated and i even laughed out loud! I am so excited to keep posted on you guys! See you at Christmas!
Lindy