It would appear that I’m now in my “back in the day” years. Today’s inner chuckle comes from the news
reports talking about -10C and 15 cm of snow as the end of the earth as we know
it. I really don’t see what all the fuss
is about…we are in Canada.
As a kid growing up in Haliburton we could not wait for the
freeze up and the first snow. It was not
a problem but an opportunity! Clearly it was a different time. In today’s age of helicopter parents, would
kids and teenagers have the freedom I experienced? I don’t know…
As a kid I remember hanging out with my partner in crime. The beginning of winter meant brand new adventures. I used to live in “long johns” from
mid-October to April, today I can’t even find them in the stores for my son.
Dressed warmly we could not wait to be outside in the cold. Long johns,
balaclavas, boots with felt liners, and skidoo mitts and we were set.
Some things are better learned from experience than in a class
room. For example I have never forgotten
that propane stops flowing at -50C. We learned this while winter camping and our
propane heater stopped working as the temperature plunged beyond that magic
number. I also learned the value of good
sleeping bags, and one piece snowmobile suits…no drafts!
Every few years we were lucky enough to have a quick freeze
and no snow for a few days. This is
every Hospital’s Emergency Room nightmare…and every boy’s dream. There truly is nothing like skating on a
freshly frozen lake with a few square miles of open ice to roam on. This of course was pending parental
supervision, or more accurately lack thereof, and silly things like checking
the thickness of the ice! We’ll talk
about one of our other favourite youth past times of “pond cracking” another
time…
In the early parts of winter and the first snow, we had to
rely on our own power; Dad wasn’t getting the snowmobiles out for only a few
inches of snow. So back to basics and
the hardwood toboggans, waxed with cross country ski wax to maximize speed, we
set of for the biggest hills we could find. They don’t call it the Haliburton Highlands
for nothing…no shortage of excellent neck breaking hills for youngsters to
tackle. For a hill to be worthy of our
attention there had to be certain element of danger… a small cliff to jump off
midway down the hill, always good, lots of big trees to have to dodge on
hairpin turns…even better. A lake at the bottom…now we’re talking. We never broke any bones, but I do remember a
few bruised tailbones after some hard landings. Not to mention, moderately frozen toes,
fingers, cheeks and ears.
Once the snow was more substantial and winter was firmly in
place we graduated to snowmobiling escapades. Back in the day…this preceded the 150 horse powered
rockets of today, we had the 18 horsepower Ski-doos, Scorpions, Moto-Skis, and Evinrudes. They required some skill to ride and to get running
in the first place…frozen carburetors’, missing rewinds; broken bogie springs
were common and mere minor inconveniences. Thank
god for a Dad that was a mechanic with extraordinary skills to repair, and improve
on, almost anything mechanical….just in time for the weekend. His patience in coming to rescue us when we
were bogged down in some 3 meter deep snow drift somewhere was also astounding.
My buddy and I were nothing if not consistent and generally used
the same philosophy of “taking it up a notch” in all our outdoor activities. If
snowmobiling was good and skiing was good, than combining both with a water ski
rope must be double the fun right? We
never had much in the way of money, but we were never lacking in things to
do. Perhaps hind sight is sugar coating
things, but I don’t remember being bored often, I also remember being very sad
when winter was drawing to close.
So have things changed? Well my 5 year old couldn’t wait to
go outside today and play in the snow. He was digging caves and got very upset when I
said the snow might melt this week. He only likes tobogganing on the steep fast
hills, He’s been skating since he was 4 and wants to know how to go faster and
if we can skate on lakes. And despite being
outside for hours in the cold and covered in snow from head to toe, he was not
ready to come in for lunch. So I suspect I’m in for some trouble in the years ahead…
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