Even though I was born in
the middle of summer, I'm a winter child. For as long as I can remember I've
loved the cold snowy days that grace southwest Ohio after Christmas.
Those days of wondering, will a snow day be called? Will we get
snowed in, or will a the snow dust across the fields like powdered sugar.
One snow day lives in my memory like it was yesterday. Our family
lived in an old, cold farmhouse with a perfect sledding hill in the pasture.
Because we lived on a main highway, my girls' friends made it to our house,
even though they couldn't get to school. The kids who lived next door walked
over. And they had a blast riding sleds down the hill.
I was in the kitchen making hot chocolate, because that's what we
always did, when one of the sledders (can't remember which one) said Zack's
boot got stuck in the snow.
Zack was the youngest of the bunch and quite distressed, probably
because his foot was freezing. Like any caring adult would do, I geared up in
my warmest coat and gloves and hiked over the hill to see what was going
on.
And there it was, a hole in the snow that had sucked this poor
kids boot right off his foot. By the way, he waited in the house for me so his
foot could thaw. After I checked out the situation, I thought "No problem,
I'll just reach in and pull it out."
I sat on my knees and reached in the hole, filled with ice and
snow and located the boot. I grabbed a hold of the edge and tugged. That hole
pulled back. It sucked the boot down further. What was going on?
The more I jerked, the
deeper it went, as my hands turned to popsicles. I pulled off my gloves and rubbed
my hands together to regain some
warmth. Then plunged in again, barehanded and won the tug of war. Finally, his
boot was free.
We carried the victorious
prize to the house and dried it out best we could. Zack was one happy little
guy. He sipped his hot chocolate with a smile.
I miss those days
sometimes. The house full of everybody's kids. And I'm thankful we were the
home they felt comfortable in. Some of the kids still keep in touch. They've
friended me on Facebook so I get to see their adult lives, their children
growing up, their professions and ambitions.
The snow brought fun times
and great memories. I still love the snow.