When you live in a very rural area, travelling between sporting venues can be time consuming, not to mention expensive. So when my daughter come home from school last week wanting to go to the skating rink, I knew I was facing an evening of pouting and complaining. The rink is a 30 minute drive away, and the family skate time is from 7pm to 9pm. On school nights my daughter is in bed by 8 o’clock, so you see my dilemma.

My husband came to the rescue. “I’ll check the pond” he said, ” no one has used it in years but we always skated there when we were kids”. All bundled up, shovel in hand, off he went. He returned an hour later, and to our daughter’s delight, said “the pond is perfect, lets go skating”.

They skated that afternoon for about 20 minutes when another little girl showed up. By evening, under the glow of a near by streetlight, a half a dozen kids were on the pond. The next day brought out more then a dozen kids, and the number has grown everyday.

It is now a week later and the pond is still perfect. The little ones skate, or try to, the older kids play pick up hockey, and even some moms and dads have dug their skates out of the back of the closet. This is the first time my husband has skated in 15 years.

It is a wonderful sight to see, kids walking to and from the pond, some with hockey sticks, some with homemade woolen mittens, all with rosy red cheeks. Laughter and chatter fill the frosty air, and best of all, is children falling asleep at night tired out from the fresh air and exercise

Image via Wikipedia

not from starring at t.v. and video games.