Ice Skating

 Several years ago..... maybe 12?  We went ice skating with some close friends. 

 Went up in the hills to this little pond, and while the adults mostly sat to the side of the pond, drank hot something (not sure what) we "kids" (a few of them were already grown up) were skating. :) 

 The guys all got a game of ice hockey going... which was fun to watch, because they didn't have real hockey sticks.  They used broom handles, tree limbs, whatever they could get a hold of. :)
 
 While the guys had their wild hockey game going, we girls were calmly, gracefully, falling all over the place ;) haha

 I was very unsteady on my skates, and kept crashing into the guys as they went by... and kind of annoyed them, because it was a set back in their game. ;P

 One of the games we 3 girls were doing, was to hold hands and do the "crack the whip"... which I would not advise for first time skaters.. ;) haha 

 I was in the middle, and lost my balance.  So, down we all went... and cracked the ice. O.o 
 
 The guys, on the other end of the pond, payed no attention to us, and things were going well. 

 Then, we girls, tiring of our falling, and failed attempts at games on the ice; went on a "tour" around the edge of the pond.  

 As the girls skated on ahead of me, I noticed some cattails growing in the reeds at the far end of the pond, that we were picking our way through. 

 Now.... I love cattails!  They are the most fun! :D  So.... I picked one.... first mistake ;) haha

 Now, being somewhere between 7 and 8, I wasn't thinking about the consequences... nor was I thinking about the guys and their wild game...  and I pulled one... just one little piece of fluff.........

 It is amazing how tightly packed those things are..... and how far they will spread when one is removed.....

 I swear that fluff covered a ten foot circle of ice........

 And, as is normal for me... at that moment, the puck for the hockey game came scooting in among the reeds... with the guys, going full speed after it......

 Now, when the skates are gliding nicely on the ice, they don't take kindly to fluff coming between them and the ice... 

 It was rather interesting to see the far spreading effects of that small lack of intelligence...
 
 One moment, there were 4 guys with their sticks, bent on catching the puck.... the next; several sticks flying through the air, 2 of the guys sliding through the reeds, and the other 2 tripping, and trying to catch their balance....

 If ever I was in trouble with those guys.... it was then.  Haha
 They were far from happy. ;) 

 Only one of them seemed to think it was funny.... but that was after several minutes. ;) 

 After that, I was no longer allowed on that part of the pond. And certainly nowhere near the cattails ;) 

 It was definitely memorable. :D  And one of my favorite memories from being little. :)   Fun was simple, and cheap (if you were the one who caused it) ;)  And we had lot's of it. :D


  Hallie