“ Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity.”
The snow just started falling. We could get about an inch of the wintry mess. I’m staying home. A window view is as close as I’ll get to the snow.
When I was a kid, a snow storm was a joyous event. There was always the hope of a no school day. I’d wake up and run to the window hoping to see snow so high everything was buried. I waited in anticipation for the no school whistle to blow from the fire station. We cheered when it did.
With snow covering the ground, we couldn’t wait to go outside. My mother would dress my two sisters. She’d help them get into snow pants first then their jackets. She’d have to reach up the sleeves of their jackets to pull down their shirt cuffs. Their hats and mittens were last. My brother and I didn’t have ski pants so we’d always get soaked in the snow.
Sometimes we’d get into huge snowball fights with the kids in our neighborhood. First we’d build a defensive wall then we’d start making our arsenal of snowballs. I think the last team standing was the winner.
One year we made a giant snow cave alone the side of the road. It looked sort of like an igloo. We crawled through the entrance to a room big enough so we could sit. We worked on that cave all day. We threw water on the top so it would turn to ice. We wanted our cave to last, and it did. That cave was the last pile to melt.
Sledding was my favorite of all the ways to spend a snow day. We were lucky enough to live on a hill. Our sleds were wooden with metal runners. We steered by the crosspiece at the top of the sled, but most times we didn’t need to steer. We just went straight down. I have always wondered why nobody ever got hit by a car as we’d sled straight across the road at the bottom of the hill.
I loved snow when I was a kid. The flakes looked magical when they fell below the lit street light. I always watched from the picture window and never tired of seeing the snowflakes fall. Even now I turn on my back light during a snow storm. I never tire of watching the flakes fall.
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December 3, 2019 at 2:34 pm
Don’t forget our snowmen and sliding down the snow-covered cellar stairs. I still enjoy watching the snow fall too, thanks to my hubby doing all the shoveling!
December 3, 2019 at 4:20 pm
Sheila,
I did forget sliding down the cellar stairs. Thanks for the memory!
December 3, 2019 at 5:26 pm
No snow here yet and it look like we won’t get snow soon, temperatures are rising again. I love snow because it’s lightens up this grey dark world. I still haven’t fixed my winter bike but it’s unlikely that we’ll get much snow anyway.
Pete Seeger – Snow, Snow
December 3, 2019 at 5:46 pm
Birgit,
The new cord for my Mac came today. It didn’t do any good. I found a repair place which isn’t an Apple repair but the owner is Apple certified. It is not close, but at this point I don’t care. I’ll just add it to tomorrow’s list of errands . Let’s see: the doctor’s, the dump, Michaels Crafts to get something framed and now the computer repair place.
We have less than an inch of snow, but it is getting slippery. I thought I bought the de-ice which doesn’t harm animals paws, but I guess I d isn’t. Henry runs really fast up the stairs, and he tripped this morning. I’ll have to pick some up on Thursday when I want to buy my Christmas plants.
I have never heard this before, thanks!
December 3, 2019 at 7:51 pm
Good luck with the computer!
Time for Christmas songs on KTCC is coming and you are the expert 🙂
December 3, 2019 at 8:01 pm
Birgit,
The guy where I’m bringing it said the turn around is 24 to 48 hours. I most decidedly want it back for my Christmas debut. I do love to find songs.
December 3, 2019 at 6:27 pm
You are making me think of the winter of 63. We were living in Leatherhead in a housing estate about a mile out of the town.The Big Freeze began in December 62 and continued until February and our parents fought it in our homes with a coke furnace in the kitchen and a coal fire in the living room. Upstairs relied on electric bar heaters mounted to the wall.
Anyways the snows came and we were well and truly locked in. I still have the image of the men folk heading out with spades and shovels to try to clear the road out. I don’t remember the grit lorry showing up to help
We might have got a wooden sled with metal runners around that time. At the age of 8 it all contributed to the wonder of Christmas and the season
In the middle of all this, the Beatles appeared on an afternoon children’s program “Tuesday Rendezvous” starring Muriel Young and Wally Whyton…there were a couple of glove puppets, Ollie Beak and Fred Barker
Snow, cold and the Beatles were about to make a seismic impact of the culture and society.
December 3, 2019 at 7:05 pm
My Dear Hedley,
It is amazing how those snow storms stay in our memories considering how often it used to snow. I can’t imagine heating the house with coal and coke. The coal had to have left dust around the house. When I was in Morocco, the riad had a heater on the wall. It wasn’t enough. I have gas heat and forced hot air.
I’m thinking a grit lorry must be a sand truck. I don’t see many sand trucks. Mostly there are just plows. When I was a kid, the plows always left a layer of snow making the streets great for sledding.
Everyone I knew had a wooden sled. Over the summer the rails would rust. On the first runs down the hill, my sled left brown grooves.
It is interesting that The Beatles appeared on an afternoon children’s show.
December 4, 2019 at 9:44 am
Chilblains Kat, everyone had chilblains
There were coal and coke bunkers in the back garden and the coke furnace was nicely placed in the kitchen. The coal man came regularly to refill them, they made a good hiding place when less full.
Upstairs was cold and bath time was brief as we ran out very quickly of hot water.
Even as 8 year olds we were immediately aware of the Beatles. Love Me Do started it and next thing you knew they were on every television program that you could imagine. Thank your Lucky Stars, Juke Box Jury, Ready Steady Go, Sunday night at the London Palladium…..we watched and waited to see….are they gonna be on ? There departure and triumphant return to the USA was shown live on the BBC..
I did buy the expensive version of Abbey Road and its worth every penny.
December 4, 2019 at 10:36 am
My Dear Hedley,
I love the word chilblains. It sounds like it’s definition.
My grandfather’s father was murdered by mistake, beaten up for money he didn’t owe. It was his neighbor. My great grandmother was in a tough spot having to raise lots of kids with little money. My grandfather talked about walking the rails looking for coal that may have fallen off the train. In my lifetime, we always had oil heat.
I was in high school when it seemed every radio station was playing the Beatles. I remember when they were on Ed Sullivan. Most of us, my friends and I, were glued to the TV.
December 3, 2019 at 6:56 pm
26.5 inches here in Mont Vernon. I cleared the driveway yesterday and again today. The plow just went by and piled it up at the end of the driveway.
Lisa will be happy to have the girls return to school tomorrow.
December 3, 2019 at 7:24 pm
Bill,
Wow! That is an amazing amount of snow. I think I’d just decide to hibernate until warmer weather. M
I’d call Skip who would be here to plow. I’d watch from the window.
Two days off from school is a big thing. I understand Lisa!
December 3, 2019 at 10:22 pm
Hi Kat,
If I never have to see snow again it will be too soon. Unfortunately, my company usually sends me to Toronto in January. 🙂 Later this month I’m going to Phoenix where it never snows.
Today the sky was clear and the temperature warmed up to the mid 60s. No snow today.
December 3, 2019 at 10:39 pm
Hi Bob,
We didn’t get much more than a dusting. The rest of the state got between 6 and, in the western part of the state, 36 inches. I never plow or shovel. That’s why I have Skip.
We never got out of the 30’s today. I only went out to get the papers.