The pond at our house used to actually hold water year around. These days, it is mostly dry.
Once when I was in the 5th grade or so, I walked out on the ice on the pond with a hatchet and chopped out a hole in the ice about two feet across. I wanted to see how thick the ice was and what the water looked like underneath.
A problem with my approach became immediately apparent. I couldn't get a grip on the ice floe in the hole to pull it out.
After thinking about it for all of about 5 seconds, I decided to push it under the ice. I stepped on the floe, it went under the ice, and so did I.
Fortunately for me, when I came back up, I came up in the hole and after a couple of minutes managed to climb out. If I had cut the hole any bigger, I might not have been able to get out at all. I then made a bee-line for the house and spent the next hour or so sitting in front of the gas stove in the living room warming up.
I never did tell my parents what I did and I have no idea why my noone asked me why I came walking into the house in the middle of the winter soaking wet from head to toe.
Americans for Fair Taxation! 