Freezing hand to Freezing hand

Beside my House in Caledon Ontario there is a marshy area that completely freezes over in the winter time. My dad found this out when I was about two years old, and ever since then my dad and I have made a rink every year. The rink came with many struggles such as: the tarp ripping, the clearing of the rink after a fresh snow fall, and just getting down to the rink! Even though it was tough work it became a tradition to build the rink every year. It also came with benefits such as my siblings and I learning how to skate. On Sunday, January 9, 2011 our rink was featured in the Toronto Star as one of the best backyard rinks, this meant a lot to my dad and I because we put so much hard work into the rink. Every night when the weather was just right my dad and I would be outside flooding the rink, and believe me it did not matter if it was -20C we would be outside underneath the stars. This was one of my favorite childhood memories, just me and my dad flooding the rink late at night under the stars. The rink tradition continues on through the summer, as my family and I dig the ground up to make the rink flat, bigger, and better than last year. This rink means so much to me because it brought my dad and I closer, and this tradition is something that I see myself passing on to my children. Just as Jim Coyle stated in his Toronto star piece about backyard rinks “Time passes. A skating son becomes father to the rink-making man. The hose is passed from generation to generation, freezing hand to freezing hand” (Toronto Star A10). Building this rink is truly a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation, just as my dad passed it down to me, I will pass it down to my son or daughter in the future.

Coyle, Jim. "Backyard Canadiana." Toronto Star, 9 Jan. 2011, pp. A10-A11.