Last week, many of us in the U.S. and Canada were dealing with record low temps as the result of the dreaded Polar Vortex. The lows in some parts of the U.S. rivaled temps in Antartica. Crazy.
For those of you who are making the best of winter’s snow bounty, history is on your side. Here’s a look at how folks in the 19th century played in the snow!
Back in the day, sledding was referred to as “coasting” or “sliding.” A January 12, 1896 article in The New York Times expounds upon the good “old-fashioned” fun:
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Read the rest at Social In DC.
Have you been sledding this year? Do you have fond sledding memories (perhaps with unconventional, homemade sleds)? I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Kathy
Kathy – Those folks knew how to make the most of the snow! To be honest, that’s one thing I really get homesick for: autumn and winter weather. Where I live there isn’t really weather – well, not like that.
You live in an area with beautiful weather, Margot…enjoy! Come and slide anytime. 😉
No sliding for me. I’ve never been a slider, although I have taken a turn or two down a frozen slope on an inflated innertube. That was kind of fun, but I prefer the water version in the heat.
Fun stuff again, Kathy. Happy sliding!
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
The “water version” is a lot of fun! I’ve never done an innertube, but have taken plenty of turns with the kids in the usual kind of sleds!
No sledding out here in SoCAL and I’m glad for it. I’m too old to indulged but back in the day as a kid in MN the 40 below temps didn’t bother us. We girls wore boys long johns and hauled the toboggan down to Sather Hill and away we went! This year when newscasters blabbered on about wind chill of 40 below, I truly laughed. We sledded and ice skated in in 40 below “real” temp! Alas, I’d not dare to freeze my buns off any more. Ha! Thanks for the news articles. I don’t know where you get them, but they are great.
Hi, Sharla Rae! You guys were out in those temps as kids? Wow. I can’t imagine doing that now – I’m with ya there. I get these from the NYT archives. The link is in my “research” tab. Thanks for stopping by!
I used to love to sled as a kid. There was this long hill behind one neighbor’s house that went down into the woods. The trick was dodging the trees. Failure to do so was quite painful.
Today, I prefer hot chocolate by the fire and a good book!
LOL, I hear ya, Kass…my kids had a patch of prickly shrubs at the end of one of the good hills, and a street at the end of another. Kept us parents busy. I know I did some sledding as a kid, on one of those metal saucers – then the adults went sledding one night, and I found my saucer all dented in the morning. They should have stayed by the fire with the hot chocolate and the book! 😉
Wow, did you ever have frigid temperatures Kathy. And we’re having unusually hot weather with no rain. It’s eighty degrees here. In January? Anyway, when it did snow in the mountains, my family and I would head out with our sled. It’s a wonder we didn’t break our neck. To think of riding in a luge makes me shudder. But we’ll get to watch soon at the Olympics. I’m sending our hot weather your way girl! Stay warm! 🙂
Karen, that’s crazy – 80 degrees in January? Your hot weather won’t be heading our way any time soon: we’re due for another Polar Vortex this week. 🙁