Sledding

I live in Alaska…I know this. But today is November 11th and until this weekend we have basically had no snow this year. Since yesterday morning, though, the snow has been falling steadily and we probably have about 8 inches or so on the ground. It is 10:40 p.m. as I write this note. It has been a long day of hard work on the inside of our house…painting, hanging pictures in Sullivan’s room and helping him get it back together after I painted it Friday night, doctoring a sick dog, etc. The kids all took breaks from work and went outside to sled with their friends. This evening I joked to Shaun that we needed to get the kids to bed and go for a sled ride ourselves. He chuckled at the suggestion, and we both went back to what we were doing.

At 10 p.m. I was still staining wood in the garage (for a bed we are making) and he couldn’t help so he went to bed. At 10:10 p.m. I was done but needed to let the stain sit for 30 minutes before recoating so I decided to bundle up and take the dogs outside. I put on my boots, grabbed Shaun’s jacket, Dharma’s mittens, and Barb’s hat (since all my winter gear has been in my car for weeks “just in case it snowed” and I needed it for working outside with my clients) and set off outside. The dogs and I tromped through the snow and I went over to the road to retrieve our two sleds which the kids had left in the hurry to get to youth group tonight.

Not a soul was outside and the snow was gently falling. The streetlights made the new-fallen snow shimmer and the night just seemed so inviting. So I looked at the dogs and waved to a truck heading down our hill and decided “I am going to go for a sled ride.” I left the dogs on our hillside watching me and marched to the middle of the road. Now to explain a little further…the road beside our house is a half mile long heading downhill all the way with a curve at the bottom that takes you to a stop sign. The roads are not de-iced here so it is a solid snowpack making it our own personal 10x wider luge.

I sat down on the sled, pointed it downhill, and gave myself a push start. As I picked up speed I thought “wait a minute, Dharma wore her ski helmet doing this today. I don’t have a helmet on!” and promptly dropped my feet out of the sled trying to slow down and managed to merely send myself speeding off course into a driveway. I steered back onto the road and took off again only this time under a little more control and with a little less speed but with no less fear. When I neared the curve down the road I slowed to a stop just short of a street light. It was a beautiful ride! I took a moment to just sit there all by myself on the sled in the middle of our street and soak in the moment. The snow was still falling and looked beautiful in the light. The night was quiet except for a plane flying somewhere far overhead. It was a moment I wanted to remember and share with you. I felt 11 again…you know, young enough to do these sort of things but confident in who I was without a care in the world except that moment.

Then I got up and started hiking up the hill. As I walked, I passed a man standing beside the truck that I waved at earlier. He saw me dragging the sled and said “ that looks awesome. I can’t believe you did that”. I said “Nothing like being 39 years old and taking myself for a sled ride.” He said “As I drove down the hill with my wife, we saw you picking up the sleds in your yard and my wife said she couldn’t believe kids were out this late playing. I told her that I thought it was the mom just picking up the sleds and she said okay. Then I pulled into the driveway and saw you coming down the hill on the sled and thought: That is sooo cool!” I laughed and told him it felt great.

When I got to the top of the hill… I did it again…only this time faster…and all the way to the yard just before the stop sign all the way at the bottom of the hill. I laughed as I got out of the sled the second time. Then I realized how far I was going to have to hike back…and felt 39 again…because after two runs I was done for the night.

But, I wanted to share this with you, because I wanted to remind all the adults in my life to take moments for yourself amid the chores and hustle that comes especially during this time of year. It was exhilarating to breath in the crisp air, toss back my head, laugh, and bring a little piece of joy into my day. This was a moment I created for myself that I hope I will remember for the rest of my life.