There is proof I’m in my second childhood. I take delight in things left behind many years ago. I love to walk in snow, stroke cats and dogs, play Solitaire, look for cloud pictures in the sky, and crack ice on puddles. Cracking ice was not common when I was growing up in West Tennessee. Prolonged periods of below freezing temperatures did not happen often. I adore the sound of breaking ice on a puddle, especially if there is air between the ice and water. There is a hollow sound as the ice shatters. You look for white ice, because if water is frozen solid and clear, it would take a jackhammer to break it.
John humors me, and today he stepped on a puddle, causing a satisfying crackle. It wouldn’t have mattered if a bit of water had spurted up, because he was wearing boots. A breathless heroine in an old novel might have swooned and said, “My hero!” Being a little more modern and less dramatic, I said, “My ice-breaker! Thank you.”
Mehrling Muse 
I grew up in Texas and ask for ice skates every Christmas. Never got them.
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LOL! Did you ever learn to ice skate, even without your own skates?
There was a heavy freeze in Memphis when we were in college, so John borrowed his aunt’s and uncle’s skates. (They had both come from NY.) There was a frozen pond in the area of the zoo, and that’s where I first skated. A few years later John and I met his two sisters in Manhattan and skated in Rockefeller Center. Oh! I do hope you skated at least once in your life!
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I did and dreamed of doing it as apro. In Ft. Worth they froze an arena ,somewhere, and I got to go several times. Then later after moving to Mississippi, in high school, they would freeze the coliseum arena for awhile. My boyfriend at the time was good too. We had a great time. Some day before it too late…..maybe again.
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I’m so glad you had wonderful skating experiences. That’s marvelous.
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I must start taking more water with my…….water, Anne.I actually imagined I’d read you calling John your Knight in Shining Armour. Then I started thinking of a Knight standing on all your ice puddles, they’d stand no chance.I’m sure he is your Knight even if you didn’t call him that.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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I have called John my knight before! If his armor were shining, grandson Nathaniel would have been the one to shine it. Wouldn’t it be grand to have a knight in full battle array stand on my puddles??? We would conquer them all.
xxx Knightly Hugs xxx
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What fun. Keep enjoying every moment. Being from Florida I’ve never heard the sound of cracking ice on a puddle. But I imagine it would sound delightful! Second childhood? Is that what it is? I just find that suddenly in my 60’s I’ve started appreciated every little thing. Thank you for sharing. I had no idea about this secret sound treasure.
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I wonder if there is a Florida experience that I’ve never had. Maybe you have done something that I never dreamed of.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Those are great sounds. I like the white ice sound as well.
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Aha! A kindred spirit!
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Never heard or seen or done it. I will satisfy myself, taking ice off from a refrigerator ( the old type refrigerator) and cracking it with fingers. Glad you recognized you are in your second childhood or perhaps you never grew up or perhaps living in the mountains woke up the Sleeping Beauty of childhood inside you. I have always known you have a child inside you, even if you didn’t see it. With that peaches and cream complexion, you could be nothing but a beautiful little girl, in a checked or tartan pinafore, jumping in rain puddles or cracking ice on the side walk (??) or meandering around Christmas trees, or eating S’more or moon cakes(?)
Susie
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You paint a lovely picture of my childhood. I wasn’t as pretty as you make me sound, but I did have a wonderful childhood.
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Icebreaker versus hero. It still equals pretty darn sweet. 🙂
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Ice in puddles begs to be crunched. It’s fun. If being an adult means you can’t enjoy that – and can share it with others especially children, then who wants to grow up. Glad you two are still managing to stretch out childhood fun. (We had 3 ice rinks here at one time – it’s not the same as really ice skating outdoors, but a welcome cool in summer!)
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On Long Island we used to ice skate on a mill pond. It wasn’t cold enough to freeze the water very often, so we went whenever we could.
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I was talking about the weather with a high school friend and I said that ice is treacherous … I take baby steps to move around. She said it seemed like just yesterday, she’d skid across a big puddle with snow on top and see the bootmark on the slow from the skid and enjoy “the ride” … she said she overheard her daughter tell her grandaughter “walk carefully, if you fall on the ice, you’ll crack your head open!” My friend said “she’ll never snow the sport of ice skidding and that’s a pity.”
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We didn’t have enough cold weather in TN to have ice skidding.
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Yep, that’s my kind of romance 💙
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Love this, Anne! The little things in life make this world more palatable.
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God has given us so many little pleasures!
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You can make anything fun-I am convinced! And that wit never fails to show up. I am remembering you on my drive to work-and some mornings I think “Sweet Anne is crazy if she is out this morning!” haha! love Michele
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Oh! How I wish I could make anything fun! I’m dusting this morning, and I loathe this kind of housework. I’m trying something new. I dust one room and allow myself to read five blog posts. I’ve done one room so far, and now I’m licking my lollipop. One advantage is that I don’t have time to get chilled while sitting at the computer.
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