Pond hockey. It was a way of life during the winter for my family when I was young. We lived on a pond that froze somewhere between November and December. I also had a brother that played hockey through high school, so naturally we had hockey sticks, pucks, and skates that my brother had grown out of laying around the house. My parents purchased the heavy, metal rink shovels, and my dad crafted regulation-size hockey nets using 2×4’s – we were set. Yesterday The scritch, scratch of skate blades on the ice, along with the long pshhhhh of the shovels pushing snow could be heard on most days throughout the winter as multiple people donned their skates while shoveling the rink. The street we lived on was home to quite a few kids that were close to the ages of my two brothers and me. All of the neighbors were boys – most were hockey players. My mom and I were the only girls , and we never played on official teams, but I have to say that we held our own quite nicely. Our hockey games would go on for hours. We’d play before school, on weekends, and any other time we could get a group together. I remember playing hockey on the pond when temperatures plummeted to -25F. It was so cold one day that one of the neighbor boys said, “Hey, watch this!” as he flicked the hockey puck about eight feet into the air. When the puck landed on the ice, it shattered into pieces that went sprawling across the rink. On those days, I went inside after playing in the frigid cold to find my fingers and toes white – partially frozen themselves. I didn’t care – all I wanted to do was play. My parents also held skating parties often. Neighbor families would congregate in our backyard, share snacks, drink hot cocoa, and chat by a hot, crackling fire, but the best was always the hockey games. Our winters were full of hockey, fun, and friends – wonderful memories. Today The kids and I invited my mom to come over yesterday to skate with us on the nearby lake. The lakes around us are unusually glassy due to the absent snow this year, and the roller coaster of temperatures we’ve been having. The daily highs almost hit 50F two weeks ago, so the ice was soft and very wet. Two days later, our temperatures plummeted to the single digits – this made for hard, smooth ice. As Mom walked in the door yesterday, she said “Guess what I brought today?” I knew it was something good as she had a big smile on her face. Sure enough, Mom brought the old stack of hockey sticks and pucks that we played with when I was growing up. I think the kids were almost as excited as we were to try them out. Mom put on her old Riedells, I helped the kids into their skates, and we all set out for a warm-up skate across the lake. When we returned, we grabbed the equipment, made two quick goals out of the two extra sticks we had, and played a heated 2 v. 2 game. While we played, warm memories kept flowing through my head of the old, frigid pond hockey days. I hope our new neighbors around join us for games soon. Did you grow up playing neighborhood games? I’d love for you to share your stories in the comments below. Thanks for reading!