Tuesday, 12/17

It’s nice to know that some traditions never die.

All the snow we received the past three have allowed people to get into the swing of the many winter sports available around here. I myself have gone cross-country skiing, I’ve talked to people who’ve gone snow shoeing, and I saw people sledding.

In fact, I saw people who were sledding down the very hill I used to sled down when I was a kid.

Back when I was just a kid (you know, back in the 1860s) I used to live on Norway Avenue in Marquette, three blocks away from Whitman School. I went that school the first six years of my academic life, and like many kids, I also used to haul my sled there and swoosh down the hill behind the school. At the time, it seemed like one of the biggest hills in Marquette; you could tell because you had a thrilling ride down it and a looooong walk up it.

Anyway, Whitman’s no longer a school but a part of NMU. And the baseball field at the bottom of the hill where your sled would end up is now a parking lot. So imagine my surprise when, while running up Fair Street past the area Saturday, I saw several families enjoying themselves on the hill, the kids sledding down it and the parents standing on top of it, beaming in approval.

Wow. After 140 years, they still use the hill for sledding. I have to admit, while I was a little surprised, I was also glad to see it. I know I had a lot of fun going up & down that hill (well, mostly going down) and it’s nice to see that the tradition continues. And I actually think that kids may have a slightly better sledding experience these days. After all, there’s not a fence stopping you at the bottom of the hill, a fence that used to be around the old baseball field. Now you can just slide into the parking lot, at least as far as the snow will allow you.

Just for kicks, I stood at the top of the hill, and as with many things we remember from our childhood, the hill itself was no longer daunting. It’s not quite as high or as steep as I remember, but that’s okay. I’m sure that, to the kids sledding down it, it’s just as high and as steep as they can handle.

Hopefully, the tradition carries on. Hopefully, one of the kids sledding down the hill this past weekend will be running past it in, oh, 2045, notice a whole new generation of kids going down the hill on their hover-sleds, and realize that while the times and the technologies change, the fun, the hill--and the tradition--never will.

(jim@wmqt.com)