Winters on the river were fun too. These pictures were taken at a family reunion on the farm about winter of 1991-92. It was such an adventure going up the river on the ice especially when there was no snow covering the ice. We could look down and see seams in the ice that showed how thick the ice was, easily a couple feet down in the slower water. One year my mom and dad found a supply of old used hockey skates at a pawn shop or someplace and bought several pairs. We were so excited when they brought them home. We all sorted through the skates until we found a pair that fit us best. I didn't find an exact fit but that didn't matter. I just put on several pairs of socks to take up the extra space and headed off to the river with the others to learn how to skate. Because the skates were rather large, I lacked the ankle strength to stand upright on my skates. My ankles just kind of turned in and I skated more on the insides of my feet rather than on the actual blades. It didn't take very long for my ankles to get tired and sore and I would have to quit and rest. You can imagine our delight a few years later when Santa brought Jim and Calvin shiny new black skates and Denise and I graceful white figure skates for Christmas. I never did become a skilled skater but it was a lot more fun after that. I treasured those skates for many years.
1 comment:
I remember those skates that you kept all these years. I wanted to test them out on the pool when it was frozen, but I was a little nervous about how solid the ice was. Once again, thanks for sharing all of your great stories.
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