Front Yard Hockey

Some people like hockey so much that they flood their back yards to make their own rinks. In fact, men could see a service advertised at a certain location at Parade that offered to bring a tanker truck full of water to flood the yard as soon as they turned on the hose. (Hint: that was an appropriate image at this particular location.)

After they build their rinks, homeowners probably put down plywood paths so that they can get out there with skates. Maybe they even have nets or other goal markers. In extreme cases, they might even have boards. Well, Dylan has gone one better than all that. He convinced Ruth to put the rink in their front yard.

Here's part of the crew that were using some ice time last Sunday afternoon. Left to right it's Dylan, Ben (who's not on the Spartan team, but plays a lot for another team), Gavin and Willy. Max B. had already gone home by the time I got there, but he was playing in this game, too. When I showed up the score was something like 42-46, but the first period had lasted, like, 3 hours, so there was plenty of time to score.

Here's the view of the rink, with Ben demonstrating some puck, er, ball, handling on the ice. Note the community garden across the street. Only a few hundred yards beyond flows the mighty Mississippi. It's pretty impressive set up: nets, plywood over the sidewalks leading to the house, a shovel to stand in for the Zamboni and flashlights hanging from the trees for night play. There's even boards, even though they're only the right height for hamsters.

Dylan mentioned that cars often slow down to gawk at the rink. Great job, Dylan and Gavin for setting it up.