Every day, when the kids and I are almost home from school, we pass a pond that sits just off the road, mostly hidden by\u00a0cattails.<\/p>\n
And during the winter, this little nuthin\u2019 of a pond is frozen. (Let it go! Let it GO!\u00a0 Can\u2019t hold it back anymore!!!\u00a0 <\/em>Golly gee, I sure hope I didn\u2019t get that song stuck in your head simply by mentioning the word FROZEN!\u00a0 Hey, speaking of FROZEN: Let it go! Let it GO!\u00a0 Turn away and slam the door!!!<\/em>)<\/p>\n This barely glimpsed wintered-over\u00a0pond calls to some young adventurer that still lives inside of me. So much so that from time to time I find myself wondering aloud to my kids (who are their own young\u00a0adventurers) about why they haven\u2019t ever gone\u00a0to the frozen pond to skate or at least slide around on it in their winter boots.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve even taken this conversation to the point where we\u2019ve discussed how they could stay safe if they ever did take up this particular\u00a0adventure challenge. The Stay Safe idea may have had something to do with a rope and \u2018stationary observer\/rope holder\u2019 role and a \u2018pond trekker\u2019 role.<\/p>\n Anyway, the last time we drove past, I did my \u2018wonder aloud\u2019 shtick, which prompted Sissy to chime in with, \u201cHey Sonny, do you know how Mom wants us to stay safe on the frozen pond? She wants us to tie ourselves together with a rope.\u00a0 So that if one of us breaks through the ice and goes in, we\u2019ll pull the other one in after us because we\u2019ll be tied together with a ROPE!\u00a0 And then, if we\u2019re both in the pond and all waterlogged and one of us tries to pull ourselves OUT, we won\u2019t be able to because we\u2019ll be tied together with a ROPE!\u201d<\/p>\n Hmmm. I hadn\u2019t quite pictured the rope being used that way.\u00a0 But based on the\u00a0anticipated results, that seems like a bad way to use the rope\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n