The Hill

My school just got done with three consecutive snow days due to about a foot or more of snow we got over two days. I must admit that I didn't do much homework, (I probably should have as we are now back and teachers could expect it to be done), but what I did do was go sledding. There are several nice hills around my house and I love to sled but given the sore muscles I have now I wonder if it is worth the results to go sledding.

Sledding is a strange activity in the first place. You start at the top of the hill and prepare to go down. You are bundled up so much that you end up sweating in the negative temperatures of the Iowa winter. You sit or lay down on your sled depending on what type you have and figure out the path the you will take down (you will almost never go on that path but you try to figure it out anyway). You propel yourself down some way and you feel the rush of the wind in your face as you smoothly glide across the frozen ground. If you're lucky, your sled will slowly stop and you can climb off but usually you will roll into the snow and be covered in the frozen white mess.

The next step is the crazy part. Standing at the bottom of the hill, you begin the long trek towards the top again, a journey that will take much longer than it took you to get down and be much more tiring. You trudge through the snow, dragging your sled behind you and you realize how smart the invention of the ski lift was. As you mount the top of the hill you feel this sense of accomplishment and relief to be done with this horrible journey. That is when all sense leaves you and you decide to go sliding down once more, starting the cycle all over again.

So what is it that makes sledding fun? Maybe it is the adreneline rush from going down fast and with no control. That's my only guess but even though I don't know for sure why I like sledding I do know this: once I get started, I never want to stop.

Merry Christmas and comment if you figure out what makes sledding fun please.

pcture from google images at this site