Latest Articles by Sarah Canice Funke
~Anna, when asked to describe the sensation of having a pile of snow steadily accumulate in one's lap~
Let me introduce you to the time-honoured tradition of tractor-sledding. Part sledding, part water skiing, the sport merely takes a good covering of snow on the ground, a stout rope, a goodly tractor, a practiced driver and a willing heart. After tying one end of the rope to the sled and the other to the back of the tractor (using all the while sturdy bowline knots), proceed to sit in the sled and, making eye contact with the capable driver, yell in the customary water-skiing manner "Hit it!" The driver will take such exclamations as authorization to put the tractor in gear and start forward. However, a word of caution: two passengers in the sled may prove more sociable but the foreward weight of the front sledder may reduce aerodynamic slide, resulting in an accumulation of snow in one's lap as the sled sloshes through the snowbank rather than over it. The temperature of fresh snow is somewhere below 0 degrees centigrade, in other words, not a very pleasant cargo to transport in such close proximity to one's body, no matter how well-protected by jeans it happens to be. Continue being pulled behind the tractor until someone falls off or the trail ends. Scream loudly to get driver's attention. Repeat as necessary. Throw frozen wet jeans in the dryer upon return to the house.
Tractor-sledding. It's the next best thing since cow-tipping. I'm telling you.