Red Cheeks and Laughter
Across the road there was a lane,
an old logging road that went
nowhere, except uphill. Or down,
if that was where you wanted to go.
And we did, but only in the winter,
when a walk up that hill,
along that simple trail,
ended with a sled ride back down.
Or on a saucer. Or an inner tube.
And the kids loved it. All of them,
because everyone who went down that hill
was a child for the day, even Grandpa.
Sliding, tumbling, crashing
amid red cheeks and joyful laughter.
The last ride down the hill was the best.
It was just a short walk back across the road,
where Grandma waited with hot cocoa
and the inviting warmth of the wood stove.
There was more laughter as mittens and socks
dried above the stove and everyone talked
about their favorite ride down the hill
on those Botsford Hollow holidays.
rivrvlogr 
Oh how we miss our log burner on chilly days!
Merry Christmas Ken.
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And may you have a Holly Jolly New Year!
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Thanks Ken! Happy New Year to you also
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All my youthful sledding was done down Powder Hollow in Hazardville. I survived, though, and I’m glad I did so I’d be able to read this wonderful work. Thanks, Ken. Hope you’re having a great day.
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And thank you, Ron. Just staying mellow here, waiting for the new year.
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Delightful scene! (I’ve never been on a sled … grew up in flat dessert that seldom saw more than half an inch of snow … this vicarious adventure is enough to make me wish I could DO it!)
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Thanks. 🙂
When my sons were toddlers, I’d carry them under my arm as I raced down the sand dunes at a beach on Lake Erie. That was as much fun as sledding!
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What a delightful scene and memory!
When my kids went out to play in the snow, I always had hot cocoa and cinnamon toast ready for them when they came in.
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🙂 Thank you, Merril.
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Your writing of sledding make it sound as fun and exciting as it looks on TV. I like that even the older folks is childlike again. Never had the pleasure. Thanks for sharing Ken. Happy Holidays.
Pat
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Thank you, Pat. Have a Holly Jolly New Year!
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Ken, you take me back to happy winter moments. Such a thrill going down winter hills in an array of conveyances. We have a large dune and a smaller trainer dune next to it that has served the generations here. Back in my grandma’s time, the big hill had no steel bumper type fence in the middle of it, but after so many were injured the city took steps to fix it. They also added a nice pull rope up the side. For awhile there was a tobaggon (sp?) run on another dune, but it’s gone now.
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🙂 Those were good times for us, as well.
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