On the Tenth Day of a Feminine Christmas

Sledding and ice skating were our premiere activities in the stretch between Christmas and New Year’s.  And usually every other year or so, we received a new pair of ice skates, or a new “flying saucer”, toboggan or sled.

I never enjoyed skating because I skated too slow to keep warm although there were many ponds that our town created for us but it was sledding that gave me the best winter thrills.

Fortunately, our street had an impressive hill with our house and a neighbor’s situated right at the basin.  We named the hill Mount Blanc and soon nearly everyone in town called it that too.  We were grandiose to name our mini-highland after the tallest Alpine mountain but to us it was just as grand, capable enough to give us the most satisfying ride to the bottom, where we would tumble almost on our front lawn.

The first order of business was to dress for frigid temperatures.  From a bin in the basement, we grabbed mittens, hats, and scarves.  As long as you chose the proper color for your gender, no one cared whose handknits you were stealing.  Pants were more problematic because we couldn’t afford real ski pants so we wore two pairs of pants with the new long underwear we received each year.  When our complicated appareling was completed, we could barely walk or bend our arms at the elbows.

Next up were the candle stubs my mother saved for us in a box by the cellar door.  My brother Peter put himself in charge of pocketing them and then waxing everyone’s metal sled blades.  As the eldest, he was committed to providing his siblings the most hair-raising ride possible.

Accompanying us was our sweet Irish Setter, Penny, who ran up Mount Blanc ahead and waited like a soldier at the top until the first sled was pointed south.  Then she raced alongside, barking and panting at the same time.  Penny ended sledding days with dangling spheres of frozen snow attached to her chin and stomach.  Those icy lumps took hours to melt on the old braided rug in front of our basement fireplace where she was ordered to stay until bone dry by Mom.  That was alright with Penny because after sledding, she needed a long snooze to recover from her tag-a-longs.

We however, were onto the next thing:  searing hot cocoa and one of the new board games we received on Christmas morning.  Our cheeks were flushed and cold and as we played by the fire until we were called for supper…or at least until we started fighting about whose move was next.  But if you were the one who obtained the inevitable sledding injury that day – an alarming-looking facial cut or a smashed finger – you would begrudgingly be awarded leniency.