Читать книгу Let It Snow. Keeping Canada's Winter Sports Alive онлайн

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Urbanization by itself was no reason for winter to have a declining role in the daily lives of Canadians, but perhaps in retrospect it was inevitable, at least during the first formative decades of the twentieth century. City homes with central heating were, for all their primitive protection, far more comfortable than country places in which wood-burning heat might only be provided to a few rooms and turned off completely at night.

Quickly lost from memory were the ways in which winter in the country had been a respite from at least some outdoor chores for both adults and children. In the absence of the world of modern media, a young child in particular anticipated the coming winter season as a world exemplified by perfect natural ice on an open pond, or at least according to Fred Grant:

When the ice was first formed on the ponds or bay, of course it was always some venturesome small boy who was first out. It was impossible to control him when the whole bay was open to him, but when only a small surface was available the town constable — Tom Blain or Jim Marrin or Jimmy Carson — was very conservative about allowing anyone on until it was perfectly safe, though they might be assured, “That ice is strong enough to hold a herd of elephants. When are you going to let us on?”