When I was growing up on the flatland black-earth prairie of North Central Illinois, I loved “Snow Days.” We would wake up in the morning to the amazing white snow blanketing everything outside. Mom would have the local radio station on, listening for the school cancellation announcements. We would dance with joy when the expected words came over the airwaves.
On “Snow Days,” all the normal day-to-day stuff (school) was cancelled, leaving room for fun and adventure. Once we got the news, it was off to see if we could generate any coin, shoveling all the little old ladies’ sidewalks. Then, it was snowmen, snowball fights, and snow forts. We would have to take a break around lunchtime to eat and dry our gloves on the register vents, but then it was back to the snow play.
“There’s just something beautiful about walking in snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you’re special.” – Carol Rifka Brunt
Later in life, while working my way around the Wild West as a member of the Seismic Circus, I remember some exciting Snow Days, too. One fine winter day on a project in Driggs, Idaho, it started snowing and didn’t stop until feet of the white powder covered everything in the Snake River Valley. They called off work, so we raced up the mountain to Grand Targhee for a day of skiing. We spent the afternoon plowing through feet of dry powdery snow, skiing off cornices, and having all sorts of snow day fun.
Snow Days were ski days for years, and then one day, we moved to Texas, and there were neither for decades. Bicycling and fishing became the sports of choice. When it was time to relieve the stress of the day-to-day (work), it was almost always done with a fishing rod in hand, on a bicycle, or both. We’re back in the Wild West again presently, but the feelings for skiing and snow have changed with the years. The snow feels colder, and now that we’re retired, every day is full of fun and adventure.
“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
So, on a “Snow Day” now, fun and adventure are the day-to-day stuff that gets cancelled when we’re stuck in the house. The freezing temperatures more than the snow probably keep us hunkered down in the cottage with the thermostat turned up. We have all the gear to play in the snow, but when the temperature is -2 and feels like -17, it doesn’t matter; inside is where we want to be. Even the dogs don’t want to brave the frigid temps. So, now, on “Snow Days,” we seek fun and adventure in the kitchen.
