Flippin' Crazy

It all happened so fast. 

In the blink of an eye I was laying face down in the snow thinking one thought and one thought only.

I'm dead. I'm dead. I've died. I'm dead. 

Ok. That sounds a bit weird to be thinking of a line from the movie Finding Nemo (the scene when Dory and Marlin think they have been eaten by the anglerfish) right after you've heard every bone in your neck crack, but that is where I was at.

Let’s rewind. The other day, I decided to take my kids sled riding where I used to go as a child. After we received eight inches of snow and our superintendent declared a snow day, I felt like I didn’t have a choice. The fates were pushing me in the direction of fun. 

We have been very fortunate to have a small hill in our backyard that has provided an avenue for sledding for the past 16 years. Our neighbors have been gracious enough to let my kiddos ride the powder highway into their yard for almost two decades. While that is nice to have, it is also nice to take it to another thrill level and that was my mission.

There is a large hill, a.k.a. “The Mound”, in McKeesport. It not only was the best place for winter recreation but in the summer, it was a great place to watch the July 4th fireworks. It was close enough to our house that my brother and I could walk there if we had to, probably a ten minute trek, armed with sleds and a dream.

There was a little dip at the bottom of the hill that if you hit it with enough speed your sled would go flying into the road so it was important to always have a spotter in case a car would come by. I called the dip the “backbreaker”. 

I had taken my kids to The Mound before but it has been a while since we’ve had a significant snow. I could only entice two of the three kids to go but nonetheless we packed up our sleds in the van and made the 7 minute drive. 

Once there, the kids and I hiked to the top of the hill. I forgot how hard it was to trudge uphill through ten inches of snow. I was surprised to see there weren’t many sled tracks visible. Usually, The Mound is a pretty popular place for kids to go. But this just meant my kids would have to go down a few times before really getting the full speed effect. 

My youngest was frustrated by this and using his saucer sled made things a bit more difficult. (You have very little steering ability with these types of sleds.) So I had to keep providing encouragement. My daughter though, was having the time of her life on her orange toboggan type sled - speeding down the hill. 

At first, I was just an observer and car spotter, but my daughter’s enthusiasm was contagious. I wanted to try too! So I made a couple runs down the hill, channeling my inner kiddo -yelling all the way down. I guess I got carried away and decided to give the saucer a go as well. 

At this point my son had made a good path and I followed it for the most part.  I did veer to the left in an uncharted section of snow which stopped me in my tracks. I started to walk back up the hill and my daughter decided to go warm up in the car. I told my son three more runs and we would go home. 

He was now using the orange sled which was way better for this type of snow and I was demoted to the blue saucer. My next run was the fateful venture that resulted in the saucer spinning around and, as I was traveling backwards down the hill,  pretty fast I might add - I hit something that booted me from the saucer and propelled my legs to go completely over the top of my head. 

My son watched the whole thing in amazement and was totally unaware of the potential for serious injury. He exclaimed, “Wow, Mom you completely flipped!” 

As I got up, somewhat in shock, I realized if I could walk and move my head things must be ok. I also told myself if I had broken something I would be in pain. I told my youngest to wrap it up. It was time to go home. 

It has been a few days since the sledding incident and I am happy to report I am ok. I am still a little sore but I think my shoulder area bore the brunt of the flip which is probably why I am not writing this in a full head/neck harness. 

My take away?  I am not sure. I mean I don’t want to think I am too old to go sled riding but maybe I’m too old to go sled riding? Although next time, I could pad it up like the Steelers do before they take the field. I can get some nice shoulder pads and a padded helmet and make a real statement when I hit the slopes in the ‘Port.

Who knows? But for now the only saucer I’ll be coming in contact with is the one that goes underneath my coffee cup. 

Merry Christmas everyone!