I don’t always think….

I’ve once again decided to visit my memory for a blog. All this ice, sleet and just plain cold reminded me of something I did several years ago.

So, here goes…a word of wisdom here. When you go to sled down a hill — remove or clear trees and brush.

Oh yes. Anybody who knows me is laughing their head off before I even tell the story. Let me just say this. I’m a klutz. And a lot of times I don’t think. I think I have a good idea…like sledding down the bank…and don’t think that maybe I won’t be able to steer the sled away from trees all the way down.

So yeah. I don’t know what year this was, but I suspect it was probably shortly after I moved to Emporia in 2000. I declared myself officially a “country girl.” In the backyard is a bank that leads to a lake. It was frozen at this particular time and a fresh blanket of snow coated the bank.

Let me clarify what my sled actually was. It was one of those large red discs that you sit in and slide down in. So, with this in mind…I thought it would be a good idea and a fun one to go sliding down the bank. Big mistake. Huge.

I picked what I thought was the most clear area to slide down. Sure, it wasn’t a straight shot, but I figured I could push off of the trees around me and avoid them. And it might be fun to weave in and out of the trees. Just like skiing right?! WRONG!!

It went well at first…until I met those trees. Rather than pushing myself away from them, I crashed into them and BOUNCED off of them. The sled carried me a lot faster than I thought it would and I hit the trees a lot harder than I anticipated. Not to mention the brushy stuff that I was running over and scraping my legs on as I was flailing around trying to prevent myself from running into the next tree trunk.

Eventually I landed at the bottom of the bank. I ended up going onto the ice stunned and thinking that was one of the dumbest ideas I had in a long time. I haven’t gone sledding down the bank since. Too lazy to clear myself a path. Plus, I prefer the warmth of the house now. Not really appealing to go out into the cold and run into trees. Plus I don’t want to nurse scratches again. I was lucky I only got scratches.

So, yeah…if you sled, make sure you clear a spot in the forest!! Those trees are harder than they look.