The Ocean Tides are an amazing phenomenon that takes place all around the world. Growing up in Laurenceton, NL, a small town situated in a Cove in the Bay of Exploits, our house was located right on the ocean. The tides would rise and fall a couple of times a day. Depending on the lay of the shoreline dictated how far the water would rise at high tide and fall at low tide. This was particularly a major factor during the winter time. When the bays froze over, the ice would also rise and lower with the tides. This presented an issue in many areas especially at high tide. This would leave open water from the edge of the hard ice to the shore. If the shoreline dropped off quickly it meant the water would be deep and could be treacherous to get from the ice to the shore. There was this one occasion when I was a young boy, a number of us, some cousins and friends, decided that we would take a trip to the local store, Ball's Grocery Store, across the cove to buy some candy. In those days (50's) we only needed a few cents to get a treat. It was one of those cold winter days and we decided to take a short cut on the ice. When we got to the store area, to go to shore, we realized it was high tide and there was a wide gap between us and the shoreline. Where we got on the ice the lay of the land was different and there was no problem. So here we were, faced with this dilemma and what to do? It was very cold and the open water had actually sished (caught) over as we would say. Being the brave person in the group, I decided to test it to see if in fact it was strong enough to bare our weight and we could walk on it. So I carefully put one foot over the edge and began to leverage my weight when suddenly my foot broke through and I fell forward onto the thin ice. Soon my feet were out underneath the thick ice as I lay face down. My clothes was getting wet and I was slowly breaking through the ice and sinking. At that moment I was not scared but realized things were going from bad to worst. I then realized the tide was now falling and I was slowly being pulled back underneath the ice. I was back to my shoulders when my cousin Ruth Perry had the good sense to reach down and grab me by the arm, and with the help of the others, pulled me up to safety, just in the nick of time. She rescued me with just mere seconds before I would have slipped beneath the ice with undoubtedly disastrous results. Needless to say I'm still indebted to her for saving my life. We quickly rushed back to my home and by the time we got there my clothes had frozen solid to my body. By this time I was freezing cold and crying. When I broke through the door and my mother saw me, and she heard what had happened, sheer shock gripped her face. She grabbed me and proceeded to undress me, the fastest time my clothes came off, before or since. The store owner, Mr. Selby Ball, heard the news and he was very concerned. He actually took the time to measure the depth of the water where the incident happened. He was surprised at how deep it was and was glad the outcome was a positive one. He took opportunity to talk to us and warn us to never to do this again. As I reflect on the story to this day it still grips me with fear, to realize how close I came to the end, and how quickly life can be snuffed out, but thankful that I was saved, and I was spared to live a long and happy life.   Submitted By: Calvin Perry