Grays On Trays

There probably isn’t much snow accumulation, typically, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is why a recent snowfall made the broadcast of a local TV channel. It ran a story about residents taking sleds and other devices out into the snow for some sliding.

But the headline of the article made me think that the cause is poorly marketed in the city: “Residents Head to Hospital Hill for Sledding Fun” (WBKO, 8 March 2008).

Sledding and hospital? In the same sentence? Bad idea.

Granted, the hill is probably near a hospital, or on the site of a former hospital. Still, it’s an amusing juxtaposition of words.

Equally amusing is a segment of the interview in which a snowboarder talks about the good old days of years ago.

He appears to be 8 years old.

This weekend some members of the extended family came to town from a state where they don’t get much snow. Parents, grandparents, and little kids enjoyed some time at a sledding hill. We had saucers, a Flexible Flyer, and one rectangular (and slow!) sled.

Though the hill had a mere 35 (or was it 50?) vertical rise, walking up it made me appreciate modern technology. As I told a few people: “God made snow; man made lifts.”

But of course I had to take my snowboard, too. It made me think of the old-school snowboarders, who had to hike everywhere they went. I didn’t have nearly as many trips down as I would have had even with a rope tow, and it was a lot more work. But then again, it was a different experience, and had its own joys. So old school.

This afternoon I introduced another member of the family to snowboarding. His young son made jokes about how his dad was going to “get killed,” but the old man did very well. I knew our time was limited, so I gave him an abbreviated lesson that was short on some elementary skills (skating, sliding with one foot in) and long on just riding down the hill. He started working on the j-turns fairly well, especially on the toeside. I could see the usefulness of his ski background as he talked about the pros and cons of going down the slope in one particular direction.

As I said, it was a short session, and we soon returned to helping the kids hurl themselves down the short hill in plastic sleds. My family member / student may in time take a lesson when there’s more terrain (e.g., Colorado). It would be great to see the little lesson of today result in another adult snowboarder, and riding companion.