Submersion

A few days ago there were a couple of City guys on the river clearing the snow for a skating rink, but one of their ATV-type vehicles had become partially submerged. It had been so sub-zero for so long that I was surprised there'd be any soft bits left on the ice, but maybe that was near a sewer - you know, all that steamy shit, ha ha, spewing into the river! (OK, we're not that bad here.) I watched them as they tried to drag it out. They wrapped one end of a rope around the ATV and tied the other to a snow plough up on the bank. One guy remained on the ATV and the other ran up to the plough and put it in reverse. The ATV budged slightly, but not quite. My shoulders tensed. This went on for a while. I was running (on the spot at this point) and didn't hang around to see how it all unfolded because I was starting to get cold and besides, I felt like an ass for not helping - but really, what could I do? The whole thing reminded me of that bit in In the Skin of a Lion where a father and son in the Ontario wilderness use a couple of horses to haul a cow out of the ice, which was one of my favourite parts of that book. The cow is so nonchalant about it all - much like the ATV was, I'm sure!

This morning, I went back to the scene and I saw something black sticking out of the ice but I couldn't tell if it was part of the ATV or not. Would they leave it in there and just wait for the spring thaw? It was probably just a shopping cart or a newspaper box or some such item that I saw.