By Mary Olson – Athabasca, Alta.
I remember winters with deep snow when I was a small girl. It would pile up in drifts against the trees in a small pasture in our yard. The wind moved the snow and it formed hard undulating hills of it. It was fun sliding up and down those snowdrifts.
To the west and north of our farm near Bowden, Alta., was muskeg land with water (or ice) and muskrat and beaver dams. One winter, the water froze hard and the winds blew the ice clear of snow. There were clear ice paths nearly all the way to Bowden.
My brother and I would skate, often at night, on those ice ways. Our parents warned us not to get near the beaver dams where the ice would be soft. We were lucky and never hit any soft spots.
At school we had fun with other children sliding on cardboard down the hills around the school. If we could find a long enough piece of cardboard, two or three of us could ride at the same time. It was hard to wait for recess and noonhour, as we wanted to race out to the snow slide.
Wonderful winter pastime
When we could, we skated at the open-air rink in town. My brother played hockey and it was great fun to watch his games. I’d been out skating on the rink the night I contracted pneumonia, and I missed the next three months of winter fun.
Skating on Bowden Lake and cooking wieners around a campfire was a wonderful winter pastime. I’ve always loved a good campfire but those around the lake were special. It was usually pitch-dark and the only light was from the roaring campfire.
After skating for a while on the lake, we’d come back and warm up by the fire. I remember the clear, cold nights with the sound of blades on ice, the crackling fire, and the chatter of friends.
It seems to me the winters were much colder in the 1940s. We usually had a week or more of raging blizzards when we couldn’t get to school and everything shut down.
Our house was always warm and cozy and we had lots of time to play games and indulge in mom’s good food. After a few days, the sky would glow in the west with a Chinook arch and we’d wake up to water dripping from the eaves.
