Does anyone else remember waxing the runners on your Flexible Flyer? Today is a good day for it. Snow is in the forecast and it's falling as I blog. It actually started last night, but at the moment we only have an inch or so, but the weather prognosticator says we are gonna get lots.
Wendell and I have been sitting here reminiscing about past winters and the fun we had when we were much younger and employed.
We lived for quite a few years at the farm house where his dad lived. The driveway was very long and went down over the hill and made a 90 degree angle turn in the middle. We had NO close neighbors and felt comfortable. In the winter, we would take the cars up the driveway so that we could get out for supplies/work in case the driveway drifted over, which it did periodically. At other times, we would start wayyyyyyyy back at the old chicken coup and take a long race for the hill. I suppose at top speed we would be going 30 mph and kept on pushing the accelerator to the floor, plowing the snow as we went. Once a track was made, we stayed in it and it made it a little easier to go uphill. We owned a VW in those days which went quite well in the snow unless it was over it's axle. We seemed to be the only people around who took the time to put chains on their vehicle just to get out of their driveway.
Winter brought us many challenges. One was to get up the driveway without the chains. Another was the bend in the middle of the road which meant going too fast you would go sideways and risk hitting the embankment, or too slow meant you had to back up to where you started and try again, and again... and again. It was a fine line and had to be 'just so'.
It was one of those times when the snow wasn't deep enough to leave the car at the top of the hill, but there was a significant amount of snow. We had to make a trip out, and to do so, Wendell stood on the back bumper holding on by his fingers to the top of the side windows to supply the necessary traction, while I had the job of driving.
I had skillfully backed the VW as far as I could without getting us stuck and making a track to follow. First gear got us moving smoothly without spinning . By the time I had reached 2nd gear, we were moving at a relatively high rate of speed. Suddenly, to my horror, Grampa's favorite cat jumped out of nowhere and into the left track directly in front of the wheel. If I stopped suddenly, Wendell would be thrown and possibly injured, so I kept going and hoped Mitzi would move. It didn't happen. I had hit her and could do nothing about it right then. It didn't kill her ,but she had gotten up and hobbled away by the time we got to look for her.
It was a few days later when Grampa made the statement that he wondered what happened to Mitzi as she had been laying around in the barn several days 'all stoved up'. We decided not to mention what had happened that day.
Wendell and I have been sitting here reminiscing about past winters and the fun we had when we were much younger and employed.
We lived for quite a few years at the farm house where his dad lived. The driveway was very long and went down over the hill and made a 90 degree angle turn in the middle. We had NO close neighbors and felt comfortable. In the winter, we would take the cars up the driveway so that we could get out for supplies/work in case the driveway drifted over, which it did periodically. At other times, we would start wayyyyyyyy back at the old chicken coup and take a long race for the hill. I suppose at top speed we would be going 30 mph and kept on pushing the accelerator to the floor, plowing the snow as we went. Once a track was made, we stayed in it and it made it a little easier to go uphill. We owned a VW in those days which went quite well in the snow unless it was over it's axle. We seemed to be the only people around who took the time to put chains on their vehicle just to get out of their driveway.
Winter brought us many challenges. One was to get up the driveway without the chains. Another was the bend in the middle of the road which meant going too fast you would go sideways and risk hitting the embankment, or too slow meant you had to back up to where you started and try again, and again... and again. It was a fine line and had to be 'just so'.
It was one of those times when the snow wasn't deep enough to leave the car at the top of the hill, but there was a significant amount of snow. We had to make a trip out, and to do so, Wendell stood on the back bumper holding on by his fingers to the top of the side windows to supply the necessary traction, while I had the job of driving.
I had skillfully backed the VW as far as I could without getting us stuck and making a track to follow. First gear got us moving smoothly without spinning . By the time I had reached 2nd gear, we were moving at a relatively high rate of speed. Suddenly, to my horror, Grampa's favorite cat jumped out of nowhere and into the left track directly in front of the wheel. If I stopped suddenly, Wendell would be thrown and possibly injured, so I kept going and hoped Mitzi would move. It didn't happen. I had hit her and could do nothing about it right then. It didn't kill her ,but she had gotten up and hobbled away by the time we got to look for her.
It was a few days later when Grampa made the statement that he wondered what happened to Mitzi as she had been laying around in the barn several days 'all stoved up'. We decided not to mention what had happened that day.
More stories to come.. but we need some brunch here...
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