That’s what we called it in education when we had a day off from school due to snow. There were always at least two exclamation points at the end of that phrase. I had thirty-one years in education as a professional, and another seventeen years as a student. And I’ve now been retired 9 1/2 years! But, I still feel the excitement of a “day off.” I awoke this morning eager to look out at the new-fallen snow that had been predicted to start after midnight last night. Imagine how disgusted I felt when there was nothing happening! But now, as I look out the door, it’s pouring down and I couldn’t be happier.
I like snow because it’s peaceful. The quietness of it as it falls, the cover it provides to all the little blemishes on the land, the solitude of white everywhere calms and relaxes me. I prefer deep snow because it makes everyone slow down. Well, not everyone. I feel sorry for the folks running snow plows, or having to make emergency calls to pull cars out of ditches or to deliver folks to the hospital …. because emergencies do not cease to occur. But, for many of us, we stop our daily routines of working, shopping or just going, and get back to the basics of reading, talking to loved ones, or taking it easy.
When I was a kid living in a small town, all of us came out of our homes dressed in layers of clothes, and walked to “the hill” where we created a fantastic sledding track. It ran behind about seven homes, wove in and out of small trees and ended at the bottom where it leveled out nicely. Initially, we spent some time walking the track, patting down the snow with our boots to make it nice and slick. Then, off we’d go for a thirty-second ride which required a five-minute walk back to the top. We sledded all day. I guess we must have gone in for lunch, but I don’t really remember that. I just know that cold and hunger didn’t cross our minds. We were there for the thrill and nothing else mattered.
When I hit my teen years, snow days called for different activity. When I was thirteen my parents, mostly my mother, taught a bunch of us teens to play bridge. Four or eight or sometimes twelve kids would show up at my house mid-morning and we played bridge all day! We ate, we laughed, we competed and we had a blast. One of my friends, when he was an adult with grown kids, told my mother that any time it snowed he thought he should be at the Burton house playing bridge.
I just realized that not only do I love falling snow, I love the memories it brings forth. Have a wonderful SNOW DAY everyone!! And, by the way, when you look at my images, don’t forget to look for the elephant!!
Patricia Temples Photography 