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Last weekend, Cindy and I walked from my house over to Veterans' park. Having been warm for the previous couple of weeks, the ice had gone out of the river. The weather was cold (and windy) that day, but the ice hadn't come back yet. When we got down to the park, I saw that there was one big hunk of ice left near the bank, so I went over to it. I knew it wasn't strong enough to hold me, so I can at least say that I wasn't stupid enough to try to go out on it. But I was curious about how much weight it would take to break it. While standing on a rock, I reached my right foot over to the ice. I cautiously put some weight on it. Guess what happened. The ice started moving. I had one foot on the shore, and I was pushing a ton of ice. I mean, the thing was thirty feet long and over ten feet across.
So that was cool. But I figured if I pushed any more, I would no longer have access to this floe, so I went back to my original quest to determine the strength of this ice.
You know what happened right? Well, I knew that when the ice broke, I would probably get my foot wet - you know, dip the shoe in, and maybe get my toes damp. Nope. the foot went straight in, down to the ankle.
Did I mention how cold it was? In about five minutes, it felt like I had my foot in a cooler of ice water. Which doesn't even feel good on a hot summer day. Then we walked home.
That reminded me of the things that the kids in my scout troop do. In fact I have seen twelve year olds put their feet through ice on rivers. So I felt like I was twelve again. Except that I never did that when I was twelve. I was always a cautious kid. I never got into trouble like that.
It's like I'm reliving a childhood I never had.
So that was cool. But I figured if I pushed any more, I would no longer have access to this floe, so I went back to my original quest to determine the strength of this ice.
You know what happened right? Well, I knew that when the ice broke, I would probably get my foot wet - you know, dip the shoe in, and maybe get my toes damp. Nope. the foot went straight in, down to the ankle.
Did I mention how cold it was? In about five minutes, it felt like I had my foot in a cooler of ice water. Which doesn't even feel good on a hot summer day. Then we walked home.
That reminded me of the things that the kids in my scout troop do. In fact I have seen twelve year olds put their feet through ice on rivers. So I felt like I was twelve again. Except that I never did that when I was twelve. I was always a cautious kid. I never got into trouble like that.
It's like I'm reliving a childhood I never had.
