Dad was really mad this time.

He sat all of us down on the snow-covered curb in front of our house at

110 Flamingo Street. We were in big trouble, but I must admit it had been

really a cool thing to see.

Older Brother Richard, Big

Brother James, Twin Brother Mark, Neighbor Thomas, Goofy Steve, Bogger,

Bubby Hanks and I sat next to each other, all talking at once trying to

explain what had happened down at Old Mrs. Crabtree's house while

trying not to laugh as we watched the snow fall and collect on Dad's

head.

The day before Christmas, it

had started to snow. Big Brother James and Older Brother Richard woke

up first. After looking out the window and seeing the blanket of white

snow that had covered everything during the night, they excitedly ran

down the steps to the basement to dig out the three-seater sled. Mom cut

them off at the basement door and told them they must wait to go outside

till everyone was awake and had finished breakfast.

Walking away, James and Richard

told Mom they would wait till we were awake to ride the sled. Then they

snuck out on the back porch and made a few snowballs, which they happily

used to wake up Twin Brother Mark and me. Snowballs are really cold when

you're in bed wearing only Batman PJ's.

After a breakfast consisting

of pop tarts and syrup - I just loved it when Mom let us cook our

own breakfast - we got dressed to brave the great white snow storm.

Mom met us at the door to check and see if any skin was exposed. Wearing

boots, coats, gloves, and ski masks, we all passed her inspection and

were soon out the door - slipping down to the end of the driveway

to meet the rest of our snow-sliding friends.

Neighbor Thomas was dragging

the new Red Lightning sled he got for his birthday, Booger had brought

his old two-seater sled, and Bubba Hanks dressed in his red and white

coat brought the metal Disk of Death: a metal trash can lid off one of

his Dad's trash cans - minus the top handle, of course. It was

fun sliding down the street on the Disk of Death, aptly named for what

happened last year to a couple of slow squirrels. You couldn't steer,

you went much faster than any sled, and it was awesome spinning around

totally out of control till you ran into something! As for Goofy Steve

... well, Goof just barely brought himself.

Goof's mom was one of

those overly protective moms. She had made him wear two pair of socks,

a pair of rubber boots over tennis shoes, two pairs of pants, two undershirts,

one long sleeved flannel shirt, a coat, a ski mask, a scarf, and a pair

of gloves. Poor Goof, he could hardly move!

No one had to ask where the

best place to slide on Flamingo Street was. We just all turned and started

to walk-slip-slide up the hill past our house. Halfway there, we had to

wait for Goof to catch up. When he did, we made him lie down on the three-seater,

and Bubba pulled him the rest of the way to the top of the hill. Once

there, we could see our final destination for the afternoon. We would

be the first kids to slide down the long steep hill that bellied out into

a cul-de-sac just in front of Old Mrs. Crabtree's house.

Thomas went first on his new

Red Lightning sled. He went so fast down the hill he almost didn't

make the turn around, swerving to the left barely missing Mrs. Crabtree's

mailbox! He skidded to a stop as we all cheered! Richard, James and Mark

went next, sitting on the three-seater. I gave them a push, and they tore

off down the hill. They leaned left and right, cutting a deep S-track

into the snow all the way down till they came to a skidding stop, kicking

a soft powdery snow cloud up in the air at the bottom of the hill. Next

up, it was Bubba Hanks turn with the metal Disk of Death.

Last year Bubba was too heavy

for even the three-seater sled. When he got on, the tracks cut too deep

into the snow to move so his dad came up with the idea of the metal trash

can lid. He cut the handle off, drilled two holes on both sides of the

lid and threaded a small rope through them to make two handles so Bubba

would have something to hold onto. It worked great; all Bubba needed was

a little push, which I was happy to supply. Bubba went flying down the

hill in a straight line for Mrs. Crabtree's mailbox!

At the last second, he leaned

to the right barely missing the mailbox, hit the driveway and went airborne!

A red and white blur Bubba flew through the air and dove into a snow bank

next to the house just before the metal Disk of Death went crashing through

Mrs. Crabtree's living room window, coming to rest right under her

Christmas tree!

Bubba rolled into a human snowball

and got up laughing as he dug snow from his pants - unscathed from

the ride. Not so for the metal Disk of Death or Mrs. Crabtree's living

room window.

We all took turns that winter

shoveling snow off Mrs. Crabtree's driveway and sidewalk to help

pay for the replacement window. This year, if it starts to snow on the

day before Christmas and you look outside the living room window and happen

to see a red and white blur flying by, it could be Santa, or it could

be Bubba Hanks on his metal Disk of Death... especially if you live

down at the bottom of the long steep hill that bellies out into a cull-de-sac

just past 110 Flamingo Street.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed

be reached at [email protected].]