Meet Me at the Skating Pond: Some Old-Fashioned Things Remain

In a field by my house, the water has collected into a perfect skating pond. Children gather to skate and slide with nothing in their hands but sticks and snow.

I remember when I was 11 years old--the same age as my oldest--and I, too, found a frozen pond deep in the woods. My friend and I claimed this spot as our Winter Wonderland, and we twirled out majestic figure eights on the ice. Eventually, we just rested on our backs or stomachs--either watching the snow fall above us or gazing into the frozen world beneath us--and listened.

A frozen pond--especially one that's only a few inches deep--hasn't lost its wonder for children. They race outside to the pond and twirl out their own figures. There's something about walking on water that thrills the child within us; I also ventured out with my children and skated across the ice.

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Did you skate on a frozen pond when you were little?