Ice formed in the small pool. Then I would go to the hockey rink (冰球场). I picked up my hockey stick, holding it in the way I formed a big “T”, stepped onto the ice, and moved closely toward the middle. Should I go through, the stick would hopefully keep me from going completely under.
The next day it rained. Rain can do one of two things to a backyard hockey rink. It can either make it the smoothest surface, or it can turn it into those terrible rumble strips (减速带) on the highways. More often it is the latter. On Saturday morning my brother discovered that was what had happened to our ice. “Let’s go and see Dad.”
Taking an old iron box from the backyard, my father taught us to fill it with wood. He then tied a line to a hole at one end of it — the homemade Zamboni (磨冰机) machine, “Once the fire really gets going, the box will get really hot,” he said. “Then we just move it around and it will smooth down the bumpy (不平的) surface.” Finally, Dad began to move it across the pool. After about twenty yards, still moving forward, he said to us over his shoulder, “Well?” “Nothing,” I answered.
For many people this might have been the sign to end the project. But not our father. As we skated off the ice and returned to the kitchen for hot chocolate, he kept going, patiently walking line after line. He stayed out there, until afternoon turned into early evening. The pool would have to wait for warmer weather.
There’s a lesson in the Zamboni about fatherhood, I think: that it is not about being perfect in your actions but perfect in your intention. Love is not smooth as glass, but bumpy as ice with rumble strips, and holes, and places to fall down. Sometimes no one will be watching you walk line after line, but they’ll remember that you were out there.
Perhaps the Zamboni really did work.
【小题1】Why did the author form a “T” with the hockey stick?A.To ensure safety. | B.To keep calm. |
C.To measure the ice. | D.To play the sport better. |
A.Making holes in the ice. | B.Filling the gaps with wood. |
C.Smoothing the lines with heat. | D.Applying pressure to the bumpy surface. |
A.Fruitless. | B.Dangerous. | C.Practical. | D.Successful. |
A.It’s a family tradition. | B.It’s a symbol of love. |
C.It’s a special invention. | D.It’s a challenge to fatherhood. |