“You used to live on Cotey’s Hill”
Sing it to any tune you want, the made-up tune of a little kid singing to himself about a friend who’s moved away. The Engineer was about six or seven and I don’t remember who the friend was or any of the other words to the song.
Cotey’s Hill was our neighborhood sledding hill. We would walk the eight blocks or whatever it was through the snow, dragging our sleds and saucers and pieces of cardboard along behind us. The Big Dipper and Orion lighting up the black northern sky. Trudge up the escarpment and fly down. Hit the bump halfway down and go airborne.
I don’t know why there is a “No[w] sledding” sign there now. I don’t know when they put it up [or who added the dubya]. I don’t know what excuse they used. I bet it has something to do with safety though. There’s a street down there! With automotive vee-hickles! We can’t let our precious little children shoot out into the street on their sleds and get hit by those automotive vee-hickles! They might get hurt.
Guess what. There has always been a street at the bottom of Cotey’s hill. It’s kind of a backwater. Once and a while an actual motor vee-hickle goes by. Besides that, I don’t remember once getting all the way down to the street. Most of the time, we’d just give up after we hit the bump, lying on our backs in the snow, laughing helplessly until we could catch our breath enough to pull ourselves up and trudge back up to the top with our sleds and saucers and pieces of cardboard. Do it all over again. I suppose sledding accidents happen but I don’t have a memory of even one.
Yesterday afternoon, I deviated from my two usual Sault Ste. Siberian walking routes — the locks and the airport. I re-found my old sledding hill and wandered through the time warp that is my frozen northern childhood neighborhood. Click here or on the pic for s’more.
P.S. I am guessing about how to spell “Cotey’s”. I really have no idea.
December 13th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Enquiring minds want to know, was Cotey’s Hill infested with cooties? (Apologies.)
December 13th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I know of lots of sledding accidents–but that may be because Washingtonians are notoriously stupid when snow hits! I’m sure the sign is a CYA kind of thing; people are so sue-happy these days. Ruins all our fun.
December 13th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Looks to me like it might be on or adjoining privately-owned property… was that house there “back in the day”? The other possibility is that the owner at that time didn’t mind the kids, present owner doesn’t want the liability.
December 14th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I dunno about the cooties but I am sure it’s a cya thing. I’m pretty sure that the hill is city property or whatever, not private. There is a house on the right at the bottom and a friend of mine lived there. Not an every day friend but we did play sometimes. They made an ice rink behind their house every winter. No idea who lives there now.
December 14th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I am sure we spent a few days with you guys on the hill. And I seem to remember skiing somewhere within walking distance that had a little rope tow. Jim had a friend, who’s name I can’t quite remember (Smart – or something like that) that would come along. I remember being happy that another unrelated boy was paying attention to me.
December 14th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
It is nice to see the UP north. As always, the pic’s are great! Definitely good times memory provoking.