In The Hood

When I was younger, the winters were much worse then they are currently.  One winter we went down to Uncle Raymond's for another (out of my mind) exciting ski-doo fun!!  Well, this day my uncle had other plans, he thought would be a blast.  He hooked up an old car hood that had wood seats built inside behind the snow machine for a road trip to his in laws.  The same ones that had the cabin up north where Diane was thrown into the lake.!!  Sounds fun?  The plan was for my mom, dad, and Aunt Betty to follow in our car, since it was illegal to travel on the roads in a car hood, and to make sure all went well.  Uncle Raymond drove the ski-doo with one of his kids riding just behind him.  The other 4 kids, Diane and myself were assigned seats in the car hood.  Since Di was the oldest, she got to ride on the wooden seat at the widest part of the hood.  Since I was lucky enough to be her sister, my seat was same row next to Di. While our uncles 4 smaller kids rode either on the short wooden seat at the narrowest section or were fortunate enough to set in the floor of the hood.  We made it out of the yard onto the road, then my uncle got a (brain fart) brilliant idea, he thought.  We could stay just off the road by running back and forth across the ditches for the next 3 to 4 miles.  He knew the snow machine would be no problem, because he had done that before.  What he did not anticipate, was how an old metal car hood (the part that covered the engine) might react tied behind him with rope going 15 mph or so, up and done uneven snow and icy surfaces.  It may have been wise to let us kids know was the route to expect, we were told we would be riding on the road, not through or over those big, wide, deep ditches!!!!!   The very first bank we tackled to ride over the first ditch did not go well.  The hood could not be steered nor did we have brakes!  Up went the hood, up went the kids, down came the hood , down came 4 kids in the front of the hood, 2 were missing.  Poor Diane flew so high in the air, since we had no warning about the new route, Di was hanging on to me setting beside her and I was hanging on to her scared to death.  I did not want to go in the first place.  Uncle Raymond told me not to be such a baby, his kids weren't complaining!!  Anyway, Di went up and came down head first into the big ditch packed solid with snow and ice.  Just her knees to her boots were showing.  Dad came to a sliding halt on the road to help her get out.  When our uncle finally looked back to check the hood, he saw dad and Di's legs trashing back and forth.  She could not see or hear dad was trying to help her.  Hello!!  When it all came to a complete stop (amen)  they discovered that I had half fallen out and my face was dragging on the snow behind the hood.  My foot had gotten jammed under the wooden seat and I flew backwards as Di and I were still trying to hang on to each other.  But centrifugal force over powered her strength and we were torn apart.  She went up and I went over.  When dad finally recovered Diane, she was wet, frightened, and ticked off!  Diane was about 11 years old and I was 5.  They put Di and I back in the hood had told us to hang onto the seat.  Why did we not hold on?  If we knew the hood could get air borne we probably would hang on real tight.  What a FUN trip!  Between the freezing cold wind and the snow the machine spit in our faces you could say we had a blast!  My face was raw and bleeding and Diane was frozen from wet clothes.  When we arrived at the Wilson's, the kids were expected to play outside with that stupid snow machine.  Oh joy, a new empty field to go around and around in, will the fun ever stop?????   What the best part was, leaving!!  Since dad had driven our car over, we were able to go right home from that house.  Uncle Raymond, Aunt Betty and the kids had to ride the ski-doo back home in the dark, don't worry they had a headlight to drive with.  Lucky them, to get all that fresh air both ways!!!  Never, did we travel in the hood again.  Any chance I might have become an Olympian in winter sports, were dashed in that one experience.  Oh boo hoo!!