Wheeeee!

Our backyard -- or at least the lawn area -- has been an utter disaster since we moved in late 2003. The grass is not just grass but the weedy mixture that is typical for this town. There is a big hole in the middle of the yard where a tree stump used to be. The entire back part used to be covered by ivy vines until we tore them out earlier this year. The worst part, however, is the grade: a slightly hilly slope that makes all the rainwater go to the back of the yard, only to have it stay there, where it sits as murky mud for days after it rains. We've complained about this for a long while and were planning to regrade it with last year's tax refund (that is, until the person who was going to do it had a massive heart attack and then couldn't, for obvious reasons). Plans are still underway to regrade it so that it become flatter and less muddy.

But right now, we've discovered there actually is something useful about the backyard in its current state.

The recent winter storm brought about a few inches of snow, followed by ice. This has caused a nasty, very treacherous mix to walk on... but it's actually lovely sledding material. The grade of our backyard is such that it's a rather pleasant, fun, not-too-fast sled ride down to the back of the yard (as long as someone sticks a foot out so that we don't crash into either the woodpile or the back fence). Our neighbors had the sled (we were just going to toss Xan down the hill in a cardboard box) and the best part about the ice is that it's so hard, none of us have gone through it yet. (Not even fat ol' me!) Granted, the lack of traction that makes it a great sledding hill also makes it next to impossible to get back up to do it again, particularly if one has to carry a somewhat unnerved 23-month-old who can't figure out why he can't walk very well on the ice. (Yesterday, I had the boy in one hand and the sled in the other hand and got halfway up the backyard before I slowly slid all the way to the back again. Yay.) For once, however, our backyard is the perfect place to do this stuff -- and, given that Xan is the son of his mother and therefore gets cold very quickly, it's just a scoot back up the porch steps to warmth again. Provided we don't slip down the steps as well.)

By the way, I do realize that I haven't been posting a lot lately. Chalk it up to a writing frenzy to get this last chapter done, what with parenting, grading papers and three presentations to still write present over the next three weeks. (And, of course, 24.) I'll get back on track at some point. Really, I will. Someday.