Winter Fun

       

 

          Yesterday I wrote about some of the hardships of winter on the farm, which there can be many sometimes. Winter time on the farm can also be a lot of fun if the weather is more mild.

          I have many memories from my youth of sledding in the pastures that surrounded our house. Like in this picture some times sledding was fun and exciting, sometimes it was scary, and other times I didn't quite know what I was doing.

         There are a few added obstacles/adventures to sledding in a cow pasture. For one thing you have to avoid the frozen cow pies which are incredibly hard and uncomfortable to sled over. Another thing that adds to the experience is that at the bottom of the hill there is usually the creek, which is frozen, but surrounded by cat tales. So at the bottom of your sledding ride you get stopped abruptly by the tall grass. Also there are what we called "Butt Breaker Hills". In the summer time as the cows walk through the pasture they like to follow each other and take the same path. After walking that same path for many years there are ridges that are worn into the side of the hills. We had a few hills in our pasture with a large number of these paths and so they deserved the name "Butt Breaker Hill".

       All of this added together made for alot of sledding fun, pain, and stories. You ask me or any one of my siblings about sledding down "Butt Breaker Hill" and you will see us wince with the vivid memory of the aftermath of sledding down those hills.