Monday, December 17, 2007

Winter Thoughts

We were in line for a big snowfall this past weekend, but we only got a couple of inches. It was so pretty for a while. I love when it snows in the daytime, so I can watch it come down.

One of our dogs, Teddy Bear, loves the snow. He sticks his nose down in it and runs around the yard like that. He always has to eat some snow before coming back inside, too. Our other dog, Jackie, doesn't like it so much.

I didn't see any neighbor kids sled riding. We got freezing rain before the snow, so it should have been pretty slick. When I was a kid, we played in the snow until our jeans were soaked. I would come inside, take off my wet jeans and socks, and squat over the floor heat duct with a blanket wrapped around me. My legs would be bright red from the cold. As soon as I warmed up a little, I would put on dry clothes and go back out.

We liked to go sledding in a pasture across the road from my house. It sloped nicely and was uneven enough to make a fun ride. This was not an empty pasture; our neighbor kept a few cows and some hogs. One year we used an old tin tabletop for a sled. There was no controlling it, and when we struck a frozen cow pile, it would often send us flying off of the tabletop. If we didn't fall off, we would still get quite a jolt before the tabletop took off in a new direction. There was no way to stop the tabletop before hitting the fence at the bottom of the pasture, so we would have to roll off just before we reached the bottom of the hill. It wasn't unusual to pick up a few bruises, but I don't remember anyone getting seriously hurt.

Now I am content to sit inside with a cup of hot chocolate and watch the snow from the warm house.

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