Fun on the Ice

Last night I heard the drone of snowmobiles out front, taking shortcuts to nowhere across the lake. It brought to memory our version of snowmobiling in the 50's. Usually it involved a young, unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a farm pickup out on Geneva Lake. We would tie a heavy hay rope, the longer the better, from the back of the truck to car hoods salvaged off 1940 to 1950 vintage automobiles, which were vaguely boat shaped. Some of these hoods had evolved enough to have rough grab bars welded in and even padding for our knees. The general idea was for the driver to get up to speed and weave back and fore and generally slide around. Keep in mind that even just sliding a truck sideways on a lake at 50 mph is fun enough. If that was fun, those of us being whip cracked on the hoods, holding on for dear life at breakneck speed, while bouncing airborne, were in ecstasy. Thankful nobody did actually break their neck - though I cannot imagine why.