First Snow

I always appreciate the first snow of the year. Yesterday didn't really count. That was just a dusting - a teaser, so to speak. I like a significant amount, the kind of snowfall that requires snow removal. It comes to earth so gracefully and forms a beautiful blanket. Maybe you've noticed, after a good dose of snow, it acts like a sound deadening device. I notice this because we live within a mile of the interstate, and can hear a constant drone of traffic in the spring and fall when there are no leaves on the trees yet. But when it snows, the noise goes away. It may be from less traffic also. Either way, I welcome it. Some memorable winters growing up were the blizzard of 1975. I believe we received 18" of snow that year. The drifts were amazing! Our garage happened to be situated close to our lot line and our neighbor had a chain link fence between the two yards. There happened to be a drift from the roof of our garage sloping into our neighbor's yard. After a few days of frigid temps and the sun baking? a hard crust on the snow, I was ready for some real adventure. I was 10 at the time, so I didn't weigh a whole lot. I started in the neighbor's yard and carefully walked up the snowdrift, stepping as light as I could, so as to not break thru the crust of the drift. My goal - the roof of the garage! It had never been done before, and naysayers said it could not be done. I made it about halfway when the snow gave out from under my feet, and I shot down into the drift. I have a vivid memory of looking up out of the fissure, and the rim of the snow was about 6 to 12 inches above my head. There was no panic, I thought this was the coolest thing ever. So I had to dig my way out. Now the perfect drift was no longer perfect. I tried a couple of more times further down the drift, but with no success. I would break thru the snow and sink to my thighs. So the naysayers were right. Another year (happened to be my junior year in high school), we had 30 days of below zero temps, for the high! A couple of friends happened to enjoy ice fishing, so I thought this would be another incredible adventure. The ice was so thick, everyone drove their car out to their destination. I remember sitting in the front seat of my buddie's Chevelle, watching our tip ups from the warmth of the car. Prior to that though, we had to drill holes for our tip ups. We had only a spoon auger, powered by Kevin. After three holes, and an hour later, Kevin had had enough. The shallowest spot was 36", the deepest 42"! That sucked! Sorry, no nicer way to put it. Another year, after being married, but before children, I went inner tubing with friends at Suicide Hill in Spring Lake Park in South Omaha. It was a blast! I came home with the biggest black eye you've ever seen! Remember how Rocky Balboa looked after getting pounded by Apollo Creed? Ditto. My eye hit the back of another person's head while launching down the hill, over a killer jump. Those are just a few of the memorable years of playing in the snow. I have a few more, but I'll save them for another entry. Winter doesn't seem quite so long if you get out there and play in the snow:)