I’m wishing for snow, tons of it. No, not here on the North Shore but in the Twin Cities.
Recently my daughter and her family moved from St. Louis to the Minneapolis area, and my granddaughter’s been anticipating snow, snow and more snow. After all, everyone’s been telling her about Minnesota winters.
But this year, Mother Nature, in her capricious way, has avoided dumping snow on the southern part of the state. In fact, weather forecasters have been yakking about the “snow drought.”
To make matters worse, southern parts of the country are experiencing snowfalls far beyond normal. Missouri is one of these areas. It was inundated with snow last weekend. My poor granddaughter! I empathized with her as I watched television images of children from St. Louis make snowmen and frolic in the foot and a half of snow.
The Twin City area hasn’t any to speak of. Meanwhile, at my house, here on the South Shore Drive, I see at least two and a half feet of the white stuff out my window. Seems this year the North Shore is having a great snow year. Since a lot of our economy depends on snow, I’m happy. On the other hand, I dare not brag about it to my granddaughter.
I could tell her not to worry, that March can be the snowiest month of the year. I could point out that she can still skate on outside rinks. But I’m not sure it’s enough.
Let’s face it. Children love snow. Thinking back to my childhood, some of my fondest memories were made in and of snow. Snow forts were more darn fun as we neighborhood kids loosely formed sides and battled with snowballs. Outdoor skating was another wonderful activity, especially when there was enough snow to jump from the ice into snow banks.
Sledding— another fun winter pastime. One of the most accessible sliding hills was located in the Minneapolis Park recreation area next door to my elementary school, and two sides were slopes leading from the sidewalk above to the baseball field/skating rink below.
We’d bring cardboard pieces, which we used as sleds and spent many after-school sessions, sliding down on our makeshift sleds. The best part of all these activities is that I don’t remember being cold.
Wish I could send some of the huge snow piles in my yard down to my granddaughter.
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