A Frosty Friday Five

They're predicting snow for tomorrow, and I'm taking my last certification exam during the second morning session at a local college. After that, I'm scheduled to work--right about when the storm is "cranking up." Is anybody really going to come out for lattes and Twilight books when it's snowing? I'm probably more nervous about driving (and other drivers) in the snow than taking the exam.

I've really come to dislike snow as an adult with responsibilities; it was much easier years ago, when snow meant school closings and going out to play. Here are five things I liked to do as a kid when it snowed:

1. Sled. The neighborhood where I grew up didn't get a lot of traffic, and rarely got plowed, so we could sled down hills in people's yards right into the street. The "big kids" like my brother and his friends often went over to a local golf course, termed "Dead Man's Hill" (don't think I have to explain that). Not surprisingly, today that golf course has "No Sledding" signs posted prominently.

2. Build snowmen. One time a whole bunch of us used the retaining wall in my parents' front yard to help us construct a giant snowman. Mom was impressed--she took pictures!

3. Eat the snow. What, you catch snowflakes on your tongue, don't you? A pristine field of snow is pretty tempting to a nine-year-old.

4. Make jell-o molds. I'm not kidding. Snow came early one year, on Thanksgiving, and Mom was doing yet another experimental recipe thing. Not much room in the fridge, and jell-o involves boiling water, so she handed the bowls to me and my sister and told us to put them in the snow in the backyard. It did work to cool them down and get them on their way to solid. I honestly can't remember if I tasted them, though.

5. Bury yourself in blankets and read. Sometimes after all the playing and helping your parents clean off the car and shovel, you're just too chilled to stay out there. That means it's time for hot chocolate and anything else you can do to keep warm, especially when your dad keeps the thermostat at 65 and you're better off hanging out in the family room with the kerosene heater.

Snow's fine when you can stay home, but slogging through it? I don't wanna! Hope you have a nice cozy weekend.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I want to live in a place where it snows on Christmas, only.
Universities do not usually close without a county wide snow emergency.lol
The jello mold reminded me of a local weather guy who used to routinely illustrate the outside temp by cracking eggs on the sidewalk.
Dave E. said…
A neighborhood without a "Dead Man's Hill" or a "Devil's Hill" is a sad place for a kid to grow up.

Snowball fights were always a good one when I was a kid. Dad would occasionally rake the snow off the roof, and the piles made for great snow forts. Some years they were big enough for "King of the Hill".
Amy Giglio said…
so, how did your exam go?

And my uncles all used to sled down that hill on the golf course (they caddied there) That is a truly terrifying drop! Only teenaged boys do that stuff.
Cullen said…
When I lived in places that snowed, I guess sledding was the real thing to do.

The first home in which we lived in Colorado Springs had a pretty extreme sloping back yard. I could slep from the top down between our house and the neighbor's and would peter out before I got to the road.

The neighbor's house had a walk-in basement where the back yard area was dug down and the perimeter was maintained by cinder blocks. One time, during sledding, I went too far right and slid right down off the edge of their yard and smacked down sharply. Sledding was over that day.

Probably the only thing I miss about living in a place that snows regularly.
Kate P said…
A.C.--I'd want snow on Christmas only if it was enough to keep everybody home! And the University was definitely "open for business" on Saturday.

Dave--wow, I hadn't thought about places where people have to get the snow off their roofs; we don't get that much here. I'm not much for snowball fights, though. I can't throw and those things sting when they land!

Amy--it went O.K., I think, thanks! And yeah, that's the one I'm talking about--your uncles were even closer to it than we were (which makes me wonder how my brother and his friends got over there. . .).

Cullen--that drop-off sounded positively jarring. (Kinda like how we used to crash into the fence at our friends' house. When we weren't crashing into each other.) So, have your kids even been sledding?
Mr. Bingley said…
A neighborhood without a "Dead Man's Hill" or a "Devil's Hill" is a sad place for a kid to grow up.

Hehehe, there's a road very close to me called "Tramp Hollow." Try raising a Daughter in my neighborhood!
Cullen said…
We live in Memphis now, so, no snow.

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