Fun Is Fun

If you are over 50 you probably remember the Flexible Flyer sled.  It was awesome.  It was shaped almost like a rocket with a wooden platform on top of two long blades.  It had a wooden bar in the front that could be moved from side to side for steering.  You could sit on it and steer with your feet or my favorite, lay down and steer with your hands.  Of course doing it laying down meant you were careening face first down the hill.  There were no brakes.  It was thrilling, fun, sometimes dangerous.  My childhood friends and I went sledding every chance we got.  It was particularly fun at night.  The town where I grew up had loads of hills to choose from.

About a month ago as my friend and I were driving around Homer taking care of endless errands, I suddenly had a wild idea---------we needed to go sled riding.  We had the snow.  We had the hills.  All we needed was a sled.

Let me digress here.  Downtown Homer  has the usual things you'll find everywhere like a post office and numerous banks.  There is one main grocery store, two discount/seconds type grocery stores,  a few boutiques and hair salons, and a building supply store.  Also there is an abundance of art/gift shops and restaurants, most of which are closed in the winter. 

Then there is Ulmers.  When you drive into the parking lot of Ulmers you see an "L" shaped building like a strip mall.  There are labels all the way across it  announcing Hallmark Cards,  Rental Center, Pharmacy, True Value Hardware, Sewing Center.   The first time we stopped there we thought, "Oh, here are half a dozen more stores".   Wrong!  Like an old fashioned general store, all that's advertised outside is in one space inside.  They sell everything but food in there.  You go to Ulmers for everything from snow shoes to greeting cards to baking dishes and oh, so much more-----like, say, sleds.

So we wheeled into Ulmers and each bought a sled.  Of course they didn't have any Flexible Flyers.  Now days all you can find is over-priced plastic slabs, saucers or boats.  We each bought a "boat".  A week or so later we organized a sledding day at my cabin.  We live on a hill and the driveway looked to be just right for sledding---gently sloping and just long enough for geriatric fun!

And fun we had!  There were six of us, all over 50, some well over!  We laughed, screamed,  raced, crashed, spun, and just plumb wore ourselves out.  It was great.  For one person in our group, this was the first time she had ever in her life been sledding.  As you might imagine,  the hardest thing about this activity for us of advanced age was getting in and out of the sled!  Naturally the hill became very fast as we went up and down, and steering was an issue in our "boats".  One man went off the end of the driveway, down an embankment, and into the weeds before stopping.  It seemed quite a long time before we saw his head pop up far past the supposed stopping point.  He was fine, thankfully.  We all were.  In fact we were very fine, thank you.

A week or two later, we did it again.  This time another over 50 friend joined us.  It wasn't until we were sipping cocoa in the cabin afterwards that we learned this had been her first time sledding as well!  She loved it.  See, you can teach an old dog new tricks.  Fun is fun, no matter the age!