It is a shame that the winters aren't like they used to be. Two years ago, for the first time in memory, the backyard ice rink did not work. We set it up on one of the coldest days of the year, and it looked like it was going to freeze solid. Just as it was getting there, the weather suddenly changed and all of the ice melted. Rather than having a backyard ice skating rink, we had a backyard pool that winter.
The kids were pretty disappointed, and the adults were the same. You see, the backyard ice rink is a winter classic around where I live. When I was a kid, there were at least two or three backyard ice rinks on each block. It was a great tradition for a couple of reasons. Not only did the kids get to play hockey and the adults get to skate around, but it also gave us an excuse to run our taps during the winter. Back in those days, the water pipes used to burst all the time during the worst winters, so it was nice to have an excuse to keep the water flowing.
Last year, we almost didn't bother to set up the backyard ice rink. It was supposed to be another warm winter, and no one wanted to spend hours of work just to set up something that was not going to freeze. There is a pretty good municipal ice rink in town, and we figured we would just do our skating there. Then one of my kids talked me into it. Winter was his favorite season, and he loved having his own personal backyard ice hockey rink. I figured that I might as well give it a try. After all, the worst that could happen was that I would waste some water and some time.
At first, it seemed like the predictions would be right. It was not getting anywhere near freezing, and it did not even feel like winter. Then, all of the sudden, we got a cold snap. It was just like in the old days! For a whole week, it was so bitterly cold and windy that people wouldn't take long walks alone outside in case there was trouble. Needless to say, the backyard ice rink was a great success that year. Who knows. Maybe we have a few frozen winters ahead of us after all!
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