One of my
favorite memories of a good snowstorm was around 1999. It had snowed hard and
continuously, all day. There was no way
my trucks were getting out for donut deliveries.
The worst
days are when it snows and accumulates very early. I've stared out the window a million times...is
it slowing down?
Are the
plows out?
Is it
freezing?
Salt trucks?
I'd hate to
halt production just to have the snow stop at six pm, and the snow removal
teams at full force.
No, this was
one of those days when it is so bad that you KNOW you can't deliver, and all your
accounts know it.
It’s evening,
and I’m wired because I’m usually in full work mode.
The kids and
I watch the snow come down by the bucketload and are amazed by the beauty of it
as it hangs on the trees and blankets our cars.
Thumper
(Nicole) konks out early, as is her habit, but Dodi and I stay up to watch it.
After a
while, I ask her, "Hey, Doe, what do you think about walking around in
this?"
As we descend
down the porch, I realize she is too small overcome the snowbanks, so I throw
her on my shoulders and hold her hands
We venture
down the sidewalk past the Shenemans’ and Dawalts’ homes...their lights are on
and smoke is coming from the chimneys of their snow-covered roofs.
It is cold,
but not the kind of cold that you feel through your being... it's the kind that
after you're moving around, you feel comfortable...it was an absolute, living,
Norman Rockwell painting.
I'd
occasionally pick her off my shoulders and throw her into a huge snowbank. She'd hit it and sink in with the sound that
fresh snow makes when being manipulated...THHHUUMPH
The way she
laughed...I saw her bright blue eyes crinkle and the sound of a child
absolutely giddy with laughter...the most beautiful music in the world. Every parent knows this sound. And every
parent gets a slight lump in their throat while reading about it, as it brings
back the memories of their own young child, making that most beautiful sound...
We get to
the St. Charles playground. We climb the snow mountain to the rim of the
basketball rim, where we make snowballs and push them through the hoop.
We trek farther
north. There’s a train on the tracks. We
stand hand-in-hand, and watched the train go...we check each car and comment on
all the graffiti. Graffiti can be very
pretty...
We get to
Boulevard and climb a steep hill. When
we get to the top, Daddy does somersaults all the way to the bottom, as Dodi
slides on her bottom.
I feel snow
slide down my back and up my pant legs all the way down. It’s completely worth
it to hear that musical masterpiece of a child's laughter once again.
As we walk
home, I see Dodi looking at everything with such amazement...we forget, as
adults, the beauty that every season brings, and it isn't until times like this
that your mind is jolted back to a time when you appreciated such wonderment..
We get back
home, and after I received a slight scolding from Mommy, we get Dodi into some
warm dry clothes.
Completely
tuckered from our adventures, she goes right to sleep.
I remember
sitting on the couch, thinking...
I was
thinking that I'd never, ever forget this time...
***
by Samie McFadden
But heyWhat can you do?
Contribute protest create donate
Eat more eat less exercise stretch
Sound off educate debate research read test validate consolidate
communicate hibernate
Vaccinate medicate isolate procreate
Teach preach listen pray leave stay
Walk run jog kick scream soothe
pacify justify unify amplify
Think write
Make art make music make love make peace make a statement
Grow a garden shop locally open a business care globally
Say no say yes discuss resist
Run for office serve an office expose an office
Judge love dance
But do it because you choose to
And do it now.
That's what you can do.
.jpg)
I'm so happy you both shared with us today!
ReplyDelete