By James Smith
BURLINGTON, ON January 27, 2013 This is as Canadian as it gets – folks taking advantage of the cold to play shinny on the storm water retention pond on the north side of North Service Road just west of Guelph Line.
Coincidentally the same weekend as the start of the Last Burlington Winter Carnival.
With a game being played on one ice pad parents remove surface snow for a second pad. Who said the Winter Games couldn’t be played this year?
I loved finding wild ice and playing shinny or just going for a skate when was a kid in Montreal and Etobicoke. These games always seemed more satisfying than our organized hockey league games. When my kids were little, we made our way to the marsh in Bronte several times for this kind of skating fun.
One could say something cliché about how this is oh so Canadian, but heck, it really, really is!
There’s just something wonderful about people without a whole lot of planning taking advantage of an impromptu situation and making the most of it. These kids will remember this experience all their lives.
My only quibble is this is a busy stretch of roadway, & is a little dangerous, pity there’s no place to park other than the shoulder of the road. I do hope the City Parking Storm Troopers don’t get wind of this!
