Childhood Memories

   They come flooding back, most times unbidden, and in hindsight sometimes quite hilariously! The image above is a backyard skating rink, and with the cold weather we've had so far this winter I remember well the one Mom put up for us. Or rather tried to.
   It was way back in 1965 or '66, a year or so before Dad built the garage at our home. My sister and I were tired of having to go to the local community rink and constantly bumping into other kids who (like us) were mostly learning to skate.
   So, one winter's morning, Mom dutifully headed into the back yard and tramped down an area of snow, taking care to build up a ridge around it. Then, she got out the hose and started flooding. But something went wrong with that process, and some of the water managed to escape the enclosure, flooding part of the alley and the gravel pad Dad was going to build the garage on. The result was predictable. We had a skating rink, but it sort of extended into the alley. Almost as predictable was Dad getting home from work that day, looking to park in the back yard, and smashing into the fence instead.
   A 1961 Pontiac doesn't look too good with a white picket fence for a hood ornament.
   Needless to say, that was the end of our skating rink in the back, but to this day I'm still not sure how Mom managed to clear the ice away.

TTFN