Winter had arrived, and this year the snow fell earlier than usual. The children were filled with joy—what could be more fun than rolling in the snow and throwing snowballs at each other, or building snow forts for an epic snowball battle?
In every yard stood a snowman or snow woman. Children pulled out their toboggans, sleighs, and ran in groups up the hills. Winter is a wonderful time of year. The winter holidays were in full swing. That morning, the children Misha, Vera, Katie, and Sasha, who lived on the same street called Frosty Lane, had agreed to go to the hill at the edge of the village.
Everyone had breakfast in the morning, dressed warmly, armed with toboggans, sleighs, and snow tubes, and set off on their "distant expedition." At the edge of the village was a deep ravine, and the hill here was high—usually people came from all over the settlement to have a good time. But the morning was still early, and the children found themselves alone.
This is fantastic!
Sasha cried out enthusiastically.
Good thing we came early!
Yes, we'll have plenty of time to slide!
Vera agreed.
And nobody will be pushing us around!
I'm going first!
Misha shouted and was already settling onto the toboggan.
We're right behind you!
The children cried out happily and each sat on their own transport.
After sliding down merrily, the children decided not to go back up for now. They were always curious about what was around the bend of the ravine and where the small path led.
Come on, while there's nobody around,
Sasha said.
Let's play spies!
Oh, I'm a little scared!
Katie objected.
You're such a scaredy-cat!
Misha said reproachfully.
Wait for us here then, we'll have a look ourselves and come back to slide.
No, that would be even scarier.
Katie whispered barely audibly.
Throwing all their equipment aside, the children walked along the mysterious path. Turning around the protruding hill of the ravine, the children found themselves in a fairy tale.
How beautiful it was here! The willows looked as if they were frozen, all covered with a thin layer of ice. Even the tall sedge sticking out from under the snow was covered in ice. On the flat surface, an ice rink sparkled. Not far away stood a small hut, and inside you could see a faint glow. Our little spies quietly crawled up to the house and peeked through the window.
Inside, at a small table, sat an old man and an old woman, and you could hear what they were saying.
Sister, Icy Pavement!
Said the old man.
I'm tired of staying home and walking around the yard. Maybe we should go to the village and have some fun?
I agree with you, brother Glaze Ice!
It's been a while since we caused mischief.
We should give the local residents an icy test! Tomorrow, there's supposed to be a slight warming, so we'll get to work!
The ice crackled outside the window, and the old man hurried to look out and see what was happening. The children managed to hide, and when everything was quiet, they ran back to their hill.
Did you understand anything from their conversation?
Katie asked anxiously.
I personally heard something about icy pavement,
Misha answered.
My mom, when she's getting ready for work, my dad tells her to be careful because there might be icy pavement outside.
Is glaze ice the same thing?
Sasha asked.
Let's run home quickly. Fyodor Petrovich should still be in the yard.
The children quickly gathered their things and ran to their street and home. There were already more people in front of the house. Their yard was friendly, so all the elderly neighbours would come out for a walk and chat as soon as it got light outside.
Out of breath, the children burst into the yard and rushed to the caretaker, surrounding him from all sides.
Hello, Fyodor Petrovich! We found out that tomorrow there will be glaze ice and icy pavement on the streets!
The weather forecast on television didn't mention anything about that!
The caretaker answered in a commanding voice.
Believe us!
Katie said.
We're telling the truth!
Fyodor Petrovich, is there really a difference between glaze ice and icy pavement?
Misha asked.
I always thought they were the same thing!
Let me tell you something,
The caretaker began his story.
Before I retired, I worked as an electrician at an office, and that glaze ice caused a lot of trouble. I remember one night it rained, and the rain immediately froze and settled on the trees, the walls of houses, and worst of all, on the power lines. The weight of the glaze ice broke many power lines throughout the village, and it took a long time to restore electricity to the houses. That's when I got to know Glaze Ice up close. And how hard it is on the tree branches under its weight—they all bend toward the ground from the burden.
And icy pavement?
Misha's grandmother, Klavdiya Nikitichna, who was sitting nearby on a bench, joined the conversation.
Well, we old ladies dislike that the most. We can't get to the store or the post office—it's too slippery. So during icy pavement, we have to stay home all day until it thaws or our caretaker Fyodor Petrovich sprinkles the paths in our yard.
What should you sprinkle on icy pavement to keep it from being slippery?
Vera asked with interest.
What else—salt, of course!
Sasha exclaimed.
I saw the shop workers do it at the neighbouring store. They sprinkle salt on the steps of the porch.
Salt does indeed work well against ice,
The caretaker answered.
But it causes a lot of damage. It ruins shoes and car wheels. And plants suffer from it too.
I know that in big cities, they pour special chemicals on the ice and it starts to melt,
Katie said.
Maybe we could do that in our yard tomorrow?
No chemicals!
Klavdiya Nikitichna objected firmly.
Let them damage the environment in their cities, but we won't allow it here! We'd rather stay home and not damage nature!
And all these chemical agents are expensive,
Fyodor Petrovich added.
What about small pebbles then?
Misha suggested.
They would also prevent shoes from slipping, wouldn't they?
Fine gravel and stone chips are indeed a practical solution, but they're quite expensive. Although this method causes the least harm to the environment. And it can be reused.
Fyodor Petrovich, why invent something new? You've always sprinkled our yard with a thin layer of sand during icy pavement, and it worked perfectly!
Klavdiya Nikitichna addressed the caretaker.
I completely agree with you!
He turned to Misha's grandmother.
I also believe this is the most accessible and effective way to protect the residents of our yard and the whole village from falling on ice. It makes the ice rough, thus reducing slipping. And it doesn't harm plants as much.
Do you have sand prepared for tomorrow morning?
Vera asked.
We know for sure that there will be heavy icy pavement and even glaze ice in the morning!
Since you children are so worried about this, I'm happy to reassure you that I have two barrels full of sand at the corner, and icy pavement won't be a problem for us.
After the interesting conversation, everyone went home to drink hot tea and rest after their amazing spy game.
The next morning, they looked out the window, and everything was covered in ice. So Glaze Ice and Icy Pavement really did play around during the night. But caretaker Fyodor Petrovich wasn't frightened by them, and early in the morning he sprinkled all the paths in the yard with sand so that residents could safely go to work and the elderly ladies could go for their walks.
