Esther Barnes
English Theme
February 13, 1933
“Hello, Opal, do you have any wool sweaters, socks, gloves, or anything else along that line, that aren’t in use? Oh, you have? That’s keen. Would you mind bringing them when you come? Thanks a lot.”
No, this isn’t a member of the Associated Charities asking for clothing contributions; it’s just a portrait of myself preparatory to going bob-sledding. There is a first time for everything, so Friday night was my first experience at this sport. Not being prepared for the cold at such short notice, it was necessary for me to find some warmer clothing. After asking all the neighbors, calling most of my friends, and rummaging through the closets, I succeeded in gathering sufficient clothing to guarantee warmth for a while at least. When finally dressed I had on khakis, wool socks and boots, wool sweater, scarf, and mittens, and over all of this, a heavy coat. Before I reached the outside I was almost ready to remove some of this apparel, but when the party came by for me, they were so nearly frozen I decided it would be the sanest thing to wear more sweaters instead of removing some.
The usual thing had happened—an accident to the sled. While it was being repaired, everyone came into the home to thaw themselves out. When just beginning to get warm to the degree when one begins to tingle, we decided that it was time to start out again, as it was then after nine o’clock.
We stormed out of the house and raced down the driveway. You really can’t imagine how slick our driveway is until you have slid down the entire length of it—and not standing up, either.
As one four could ride on the sled at a time—you know it takes two to drive a coupe—the next question for debate was who should do the driving first. We won, so off we started.
We had gone just a few blocks and turned on Elm street when we hit the street-car tracks and promptly burst the front runners off. Now we were in a predicament. It was ruined beyond immediate repair. This didn’t phase us however, we just tied the front end close to the car and started off again on the back runners only.
Everything was just fine this way. Of course it wasn’t quite so comfortable but it served the purpose. We started out Grand street road and hadn’t gone very far until we, who were driving, were ordered to stop and turn around. If you’ve ever ridden a bob-sled off the pavement you can readily sympathize with those poor souls who were now. We reluctantly gave up our position as chauffeur and by the time we reached Glenstone we knew exactly how they felt.
The crowd was unanimously in favor of coffee and sandwiches so we stopped at the nearest pig-stand. We were saved the trouble of getting off. The sled very kindly hit a rock and assisted us.
Drinking hot coffee around a stove in zero weather, seemed like heaven to us. When we left we wanted to take the stove with us but the manager didn’t seem to be in favor of the idea.
By the time everyone had been left at his respective place of abode we had had enough bob-sledding for one evening. It is a great sport but it leaves its mark. Saturday and Sunday I felt as if I had been horse-back riding. The feeling is exactly the same.
Teacher’s comment: S