Winter has definitely arrived, although in spite of the storm warnings we've been seeing on the news, I woke up this morning to sunny skies and bare roads. Not so much a few miles north in Buffalo and the Southtowns; the videos and photos coming from there are pretty wild. Usually we get hammered more than they, but not this time. It's pretty cold, especially as the wind picked up tonight, just about the time I headed over to church to help Nate and Todd with the ice rink. Ice rink. That's how I know winter has officially arrived. It has nothing to do with the calendar. It's all about the ice rink. They erected the framework last week, and tonight the fire department brought four tankers of water to get us off to a good start.
This is our third year. My son-in-law Todd dreamed this up, a member of the church fronted the money, and two winters ago, we were in business. It was nearly full size, and the winter just didn't cooperate. It was warm when we first put it down, so the ground beneath it never really froze, then a cycle of cold and snow with thawing meant we spent more time clearing the snow off it than we did skating. Last year, Todd downsized by about a third, the weather stayed consistently cold, and we got in lots of ice time. I even bruised some ribs when my granddaughter checked me in an amateur hockey game. My feet went out from under me and I landed with my left arm beneath me. After a few minutes trying to catch my breath, I was back in the game, but it was about three weeks before I could move without wincing.
I am thankful tonight that the storm missed us so we could fill the ice rink. I'm thankful for the volunteers at the fire department who took extra time to deliver four tankers of water. I'm even more grateful tonight for a son-in-law who has a desire to reach our community for Christ; that's the real reason he's gone to all the trouble of setting it up and keeping it cleared off. It's an open door to the community, hopefully a small first step towards Christ. True, Todd loves hockey, but he loves Christ and the people Christ loves even more. That's something to truly celebrate on a cold winter's night!
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