"I ONLY HAVE ICE FOR YOU," OR, "PARK TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME"

You could say I was "sled tired" by the time I got home Sunday night. Around four in the afternoon, I went with K., and her roommate C. to Prospect Park. We took a bright orange sled christened "Rosebud" along, too.

We took turns zipping down steep, snow-covered hills atop "Rosebud." I can’t speak for K., C., or other friend L., who used a plastic garbage bag as a makeshift sled. But as far as I am concerned, sledding is the most fun winter activity ever! It narrowly beats out ice skating, which I have only tried once. But trust me, sledding is way cool. The rush of icy air against your face, the slush and people whizzing by, the accumulation of speed, the jouncing and bouncing as you hang on for dear life… My only regret was that I never got to slide down head-first. I really, really wanted to, but many years ago, my mother regretted to inform me that I was allergic to concussions.

Earlier that day, I made PB&J sandwiches using K’s mom’s homemade blackberry jelly. We had a winter picnic (Or supper, as it was already very dark in the park.), and then the cold started to get to all of us. One more intense slide down the snowy hillside, then we parted ways. K. went back to L.’s place for hot tea, and I wandered the other way, carrying "Rosebud" with me. I walked through the ankle-high snow to Prospect Park South. Before I left the park, I stopped to go to the bathroom against a tree atop a hill. No one was around to see me. The wind blew against my back, and going to the bathroom out in the wild, alone, the secret shared between myself and the tree I was urinating against, and no one else, felt indescribably good. Like I had committed a crime and gotten away with it.

I walked down Prospect Park South to the F-train station. But all the trains had been cancelled. Snow from the blizzard was still stuck to parts of the tracks. I walked down Prospect Park Southwest to Ocean Avenue, then walked across Ocean Avenue, the park there on my left side all those many, many blocks. I entered the station for the Q-train, the train I would usually take back-and-forth between Mill Basin and Prospect Park. The Q-trains were running, so I was happy. I got back home within an hour. It felt good to shake the soft, sticky snow from my shoes, and take off my heavy coat. Rosebud looks happy in the vestibule.