Snow Already!

Last week it was in the 80's here. Today it is snowing. Such is weather in the southern town where I live.

But I am in a valley and, while it snows inches in the mountains all around us, we rarely get a good, deep snow.

It brought to mind the snows of my childhood. It seems it snowed more often and the deep snows stayed for days and days. We would be out of school for a week or so.

We were lucky enough to live between two pretty big hills that we could sled down. Of course, traveling those roads by car was treacherous.

And we didn't have the nice, soft plastic sleds. Oh, no. These were the Flexible Flyers. The ones that had the sharp metal runners. When you crashed and those ran over a body part, that body part got hurt.

You could sit on them and steer with your feet or you could lie down on them and have your face just inches from the hard packed snow rushing by. It was about as exciting as anything could be for a kid then.

We would be outside for hours, sledding quickly down the hill then dragging the sleds back up to the top.

One year we did a bad thing. There was a house close to the top of the biggest hill. We thought that the snow was melting a bit too fast and so one evening we took her water hose, turned on the water and placed the hose so that it was trickling down the hill. It was cold enough so that it left the road with a thin glaze of ice. I don't know how, but we were caught and the one whose idea it was stood up and had to take his medicine. But he was out the next day, sledding as though nothing had happened. After all, we were just kids and the snow wouldn't be there forever.

Now I no longer sled but I am happy when it snows. My old dog has a good time in it.

I am sorry if you hate the snow. I know that it can be dangerous to drive in.

But it is so nice to sit in a cozy warm house, looking out at the snowfall. Having a cup of coffee or tea and a good book and your pets snuggled beside you while the snow is falling is so comforting. It is a time for quilts and homemade soup.

I hope you are enjoying the weather where you are, snowing or not. Happy November first!