The wind is strong. Even the highest scrub pine branches are swaying. The sky is a light blue. It is warm and sunny, 41° warm. That’s a good thing as last night got cold and everything is icy. I had to take minced steps to keep from falling when I got the paper and the mail. Tomorrow we’ll have snow as many as 5 inches. Mother Nature is gaslighting us again.

When I was a kid, I loved the snow, even if we didn’t have a snow day. I’d sled all day if I could. I remember my mittens would get clumps of snow stuck to the wool. The mittens would get heavy and flop from the weight. I’d shake them but the clumps stuck. When I went inside, I’d put my mittens on the radiator to dry. They steamed.

My favorite comfort food back then was tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. The soup was thick. The sandwich oozed Velvetta. The bread, Wonder Bread of course, was browned in the frying pan, a cask iron pan. Dunking the sandwich was the best part. 

I remember the lunch boxes we’d buy every fall for the new school year. They were character lunch boxes. I remember my Mickey Mouse Club lunch box. The Musketeers were wearing their talent roundup cowboy clothes. My brother had Davy Crockett. When I was in the fourth grade, my lunch box had a tartan design. I had grown passed characters. In another year or two I didn’t use lunchboxes. I used brown paper bags.

We walked everywhere, to school and back and all over town on the weekends. Back then, most families had only one car. My father took ours to work every day. My mother didn’t drive. She grocery shopped on Friday nights so my father could take her. If she needed something during the week, she’d send one of us to the corner store. Mostly it was for bread and milk. 

Walking in the rain to school was the worst. My hair would get wet, and my shoes would bubble at the toes from all the water. I’d take a while to dry. In the afternoon, cars would line up to collect kids. I’d hope for a neighbor in the line. Usually there wasn’t. I’d get home and put my shoes under the radiator to dry. They always got stiff and would curl. 

Walking in the snow was magical. I’d look up to watch the flakes and would catch some with my tongue. I’d run and slide on the sidewalk and leave skid marks. We’d have a contest to see who could slide the furthest. Falling disqualified you. I was often disqualified. 

This entry was posted on February 7, 2025 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.